RE I Love You: REvival of Team Light
by Optimum Ace
Summary: Two years have gone by since Team Light has disbanded, but one team member's misery in loneliness leads him to realize what they truly had. Reuniting the team would be easy... the challenges in their future not so much. Adventure X Humor X Romance ?
1. Not So Simple?

Authors Note: Welcome Back! Team Light had been disbanded a while back, but due to recent events we are rising from the ashes to live again! In this Co-Writer Undead Light and I saw fit to begin a new saga in the adventures of Team Light! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil or any video game referenced in this fan fiction.

The single crack of a Halo 3 sniper rifle and AJ's SPARTAN avatar fell to the dirt, a gaping hole blown through his skull. "Game Over" said the automated game announcer as the round ended and the crowd cheered on the winners. The people on his left and right –the people that filled the roles of team members—set down their controllers and sulked away from their stations. It was yet another loss for the nameless team AJ was a part of.

How could he have fallen so far in two years? He often asked himself this question as he had much alone time to think. Team Light had fallen apart after the stressful events two years back, and its members all dropped off the map. He hadn't seen head nor tail of them since then.

Leaving the tournament without so much as a word to his "teammates" he headed to the parking lot. He stared off into space as he lost himself in thought on his walk back to his jeep. He spun the keys on his finger, trying to remember the last time he was happy. Eventually he reached the old '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee, its normal white color was almost gray from the neglect AJ had paid in keeping it clean. Jumping into the vehicle he shoved in the key and started it up.

Pulling out of the event center parking lot he made a left and began to make his way home. After about forty five minutes he remembered that he needed to pick up some groceries –which was odd because he hadn't even thought about that before he left this morning.

Listening to his instincts he pulled into the parking lot of some small run down convenience store in the city. Stepping out from the car he locked the doors and headed off to the storefront. As he rounded the corner he noticed an old gypsy woman sitting in front of the empty storefront beside the convenience store. That was odd he was sure that she had not been there when he pulled in.

"Young man, you have an aura of fate about you. Though it is not the first time you have been touched by destiny is it? No… not at all" She called to him in her low and scratchy tone. There was a smile on her face that left AJ feeling uncomfortable. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had met this woman before.

"Oh yeah. Fate, destiny, karma, they touched me _plenty_. You might say it was a regular gang-bang, getting raped by life usually is." He replied bitterly, trying to brush off the eerie feelings this woman was inspiring.

"Ah, resentful you are. These events have conspired to create the hero you are and the hero you will become. The heroes you all will become" she mused. AJ stopped dead in his tracks; though he had his back to her he could tell she was smiling simply by how she had spoken.

"What do you mean all of us?" he whipped around, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What is all this hero business? I'm no hero." He retorted harshly to what he believed to be rubbish.

"You are embittered by the loss of that which was dearest to you, and perhaps even more by _someone_ dear to you. Beneath your hardened exterior a strong heart still beats. Find your vigor and relight the fire for you and your companions' journey is not over." She said, the smile still smugly in place amongst her wrinkly and weathered features.

AJ stood there in momentary slack jawed shock, was it just coincidence that his mind happened to recall images of Team Light when she spoke about companions? He shook his head once to regain his composure.

"Listen lady I don't know what you're talking about." He said turning his back to her and heading toward the convenience store. He did however catch her final words.

"We shall see, a test of fate is never to be unexpected…" she said in quite the foreboding character.

Glancing over his shoulder quickly he neglected to grab for the door handle and crashed his face into the glass.

"Gah! Why do I have the feeling this has happened before…" he mused as he pulled the door open and stepped inside.

AJ wandered the aisles for a while collecting the groceries he needed into the basket he had picked up on his entry into the store. The bell on the door jingled as another customer made their way into the store. AJ paid it no mind as he looked through the chips behind the display on the other end of the store.

"Alright bitch gimme all the money in the register and clean out the safe!" yelled a gruff voice as the female cashier screamed. AJ peeked his head slightly out from his cover, a man held a pistol to the cashier. His hands were steady, the pistol aimed at her head with stoic composure. The man was standing still, his expression easily controlled and perhaps even invigorated. It was obvious he had done this before.

'Damnit he just might kill her.' AJ thought to himself as he clenched his jaw. He could let the man kill the cashier and let the villain escape. That way he would stay safe and not even have to pay for his groceries. After all, if he tried to stop the man he could get shot too.

AJ took another look around the corner at the scene, more specifically the terrified look on the cashier's face –tears and all. 'I can't let it happen…' he resolved himself. He looked around the store; he needed plan if he was to keep them both from getting shot. Ok a three part plan was in order: distraction, disarm, dispatch.

He picked up a moderately sized jar of pickles, he could sneak behind the man and throw the jar at the wall on the other side of the store to throw the robber off. Ok he needed to disarm him after that, how? The man had the gun in his left hand, his back to the door. AJ could use the distraction to slip around the other end of the aisle and deflect the man's gun arm away from himself and the cashier. If he could land another disorienting blow he might be able to wrench the gun from his hand. If all that went correctly he could finish him off with a knockout blow.

The plan had its unknown variables, but on the fly it was the best he could do. Taking the jar of pickles he crouched and made his way to the other end of the aisle in the small convenience store.

"Bitch I'm gonna give you one more chance! Quit screwin around and gimme the cash!" the man yelled at her but the girl had frozen and all she could do was cry. AJ had to act now or that cashier was dead.

He wound up and threw the pickle jar with all the strength he could muster to the other side of the store. It exploded with a loud crash and the robber's head snapped in that direction. All the while AJ had bolted out from the other side of the aisle and was quickly closing the distance between himself and the robber's blind side

Drawing back his arm he struck the man's gun arm with an open palm, deflecting his aim away from himself and the cashier. The robber was caught by surprise allowing AJ to grip his gun hand and strike him in the back of the head with his other elbow.

The robber's grip on the gun loosened and AJ was able to wrench the weapon from his hand, but AJ fumbled the pistol as well and it skittered to the floor a few feet away. Cursing himself for slipping up the robber recovered and began to fight back. The robber jawed AJ and he stumbled back, unable to recover right away he received another blow to the ribs that knocked him flat on his back.

The robber hovered over AJ, raising his foot to crush his head. AJ rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed. Using the brief reprieve he pulled himself to his feet, wiping the blood from his lip.

"Oh, _now_ I'm gonna kick your ass." AJ spat angrily. AJ still being between him and the gun, the robber said nothing as he simply decided to try and break through to his weapon. The villain attempted to deliver a kick to at least get AJ to move, but to his obvious surprise AJ caught his kick.

"Game over asshole!" AJ growled as he drew back his own leg and let loose a devastating kick to the robber's knee; the joint broke backwards and the man howled in pain. Letting the man's leg go the robber fell to his knees, screaming again in pain as pressure was applied to his damaged knee.

AJ grabbed him by the head, not allowing him to fall to the floor. He drew back his knee and drove it into his face in a forceful knee strike. The robber flew onto his back like a ragdoll tossed by an angry child –he was out cold.

AJ huffed some before he turned to the still crying cashier. He walked over to the open side of the counter while giving her a sympathetic look.

"Hey are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked her concernedly.

She couldn't speak through her sobs but her actions were clear; she threw her arms around him undoubtedly viewing him as her savior. AJ –taken aback as he was—slowly responded by patting her on the back.

"It's ok, you're alright now." He told her with a slight sigh. He knew he shouldn't leave her here by herself until the police came.

---

Two hours later after the police showed up and all the reports were filed, AJ finally left with his groceries. Once outside he heard the words of the gypsy woman echo through the now empty streets. "…a test of fate is never to be unexpected" It cooed and AJ felt a shiver run up his spine.

Finally making it back to his jeep, AJ unlocked the doors and put the groceries in the back. Hopping into the driver seat he started the jeep up and pulled out of the parking lot.

Another fifteen minutes of driving went by before he pulled into the driveway of a rundown old townhouse. Parking the jeep he got out and grabbed the groceries before locking the jeep and heading inside the door on the right.

He took the time to put the groceries away but all the while the sever state of unhappiness tugged at his thought process. When he had finished putting all of his groceries away he simply plopped down on the couch in the middle of his dark living room. Eyes set on the wall as he spaced out.

Why couldn't things be simple like fixing a program you just broke? Go back to the thing you had just changed and try that first, then keep going back from there until you find your problem.

AJ blinked at that thought. That's it! It _was_ simple! The last time he was happy was when the team was together. Sure things were crazy and could be outright stressful but that made life exciting! Back then he had been happy and carefree! They were his family, the only people he could truly consider family.

That was it, he had to get the team back together. He watched them fall apart the first time and stood idly by just hoping that things would work themselves out. AJ never just stood by and watched, and the one time he did he lost all the people closest to him.

As if someone had lit a fire in his chest AJ ran into his room, and in failing to turn on the lights in the dark apartment he tripped over some miscellaneous object and put his head through the drywall… right next to the other three.

"Damnit why does that happen _everywhere_ I go!" he raged as he pulled his head out in a puff of drywall dust –little bits of drywall still in his hair.

Sitting down at his desk he began typing away furiously, his searches took him numerous places as he scoured the net looking for information on his dispersed teammates. He searched Facebook and MySpace for hours looking for possible leads and connections. He even called in a few favors from people who owed him.

Eventually he had a list in front of him of the last known locations of all his teammates. Taking a deep breath he could feel a small smile creep onto his face, he wasn't going to let the team down this time.

AJ looked at the clock; the crimson colored numbers read 12:02 am. Good there was still time… after all a true gamer doesn't go to bed until 3:30am at the earliest. Without a second thought AJ pocketed the list and snatched up his keys.

Making his way back out to the jeep he unlocked it and got inside. After starting the car AJ looked at the first priority name on his list and nodded. Jamming the jeep into reverse he gunned it out the driveway and off towards his destination.

Traffic was exceptionally light that night, even lighter than usual being that it was not too late for a people to be out on a Friday night. Thankfully this included police as AJ was not exactly driving the speed limit right now.

Words could not truly describe how much better he felt _already_. How could he have been so stupid? How could they _all_ have been so stupid? Bad things happen, life gets rough and things get tough but that's what close friends do! They stick together through thick and thin and help each other stay on their feet. They were not just a team but closer than that, maybe even closer than family in some ways (no homo).

AJ's jeep pulled up in front of the apartment complex that was supposed to house his former teammate. Looking back down at the list he made sure before he parked the jeep and walked into the building.

Examining the paper again he took the elevator to the proper floor and began to search for the right room. Reading all the door numbers as he went, he finally came to apartment 117.

AJ knocked loudly and prayed that his teammate was in. He could hear movement inside and slowly it got closer to the door before the lock clicked and the door swung open. The inside of the apartment was mostly dark save for the light of the TV and a monitor or two and maybe a light in the bathroom. Even still AJ could still clearly see the face of his teammate.

"Ben!" AJ exclaimed smiling widely at his former captain.


	2. Not Much Greener on the Other Side

Author's Note: Well looks like we're back into the swing of things! This chapter is brought to you by Undead Light, Enjoy.

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, nor do we own anything from any other game referenced in this story.

Ben sat with his hood up alone in the dark corner of the busy hookah bar. A smoky haze filled the air. He picked up his bottle of coke. He took a sip of the drink. He looked around at the patrons of his friend's business. It was good to see the small bar was starting to boom. A big group walked in. First thing he noticed was they were all wearing the color purple. The 'Three Kings' were the local top dogs as far as the gang world was concerned. Ashi took notice of the group and gave them a stale welcome. The gangs usually kept to themselves in the small bar. Ashi took their orders and began the work preparing their hookahs.

Ben noticed something that made his pulse quicken. A young man had his arm around one of Ben's ex-girlfriends. How she was sucked into the crime world was beyond him. The large group sat on the sofas across from him. His ex-girlfriend's finger pointed in his direction as she whispered in his ear. "This woman lives on starting drama…" Ben thought as he calmly got up. He slowly maneuvered around the other patrons and approached Ashi. He gave Ashi the last two dollars in his wallet.

"You're leaving?" Ashi asked he looked concerned.

"Yeah, I made a few friends in purple…" Ben said nodding at the gang.

"These gangs will be the end of me I swear…" Ashi said.

Ben headed for the door. He glanced over his shoulder as he opened the door into the cool outdoors. The men had gotten up at once to follow him. He walked past his chained up bicycle and around the corner to the back of the plaza. There was no one around. The gang followed right behind him.

"Hey!" The leader yelled.

"Yeah?" Ben said back.

"You're the Halo guy right?" He said.

"No, I don't know what you're talking about…" Ben replied.

"Don't screw around with me!" The leader yelled and pushed Ben onto the asphalt.

Ben got up and tackled the gang leader. He pounded the leader for a few seconds before the gang pulled him off. One member held him back while they beat him mercilessly.

"You don't look so tough now." The gang leader laughed.

Ben spat blood onto his face. "So… How'd you win her? I doubt was your look…" Ben huffed.

"I got what the ladies like money and power!" The gang leader said.

"Please, you're a peon. You're a dime a dozen. The man holding me back today could stab you in your sleep tomorrow." Ben said.

"Shut up!" The gang leader yelled. He punched Ben in the face.

Ben's ex-girlfriend turned the corner. She smiled as she saw the gang mercilessly pummeling Ben.

"Well, if it isn't the lady of the hour, Jacky." Ben smiled with blood running down his face. "So what happened to the medical school guy? I liked him." Ben laughed.

"He got into a car accident." Jacky said, "Nasty scar…"

Ben looked over to the gang leader. "Once there's any sign of trouble she'll bail on you. You really want that?" Ben said.

Before he could answer, blaring sirens were getting closer. The gang did not want to risk a confrontation with the police. The gang left Ben in the gutter as they headed for their cars.

"The night is at it's darkest before the dawn." Said an elderly woman. She emerged from the shadows.

"Look woman! Do I don't need your motivational crap!" Ben yelled. He looked up to see whom he was yelling at. It was an old Gypsy woman she was blind in one eye. Ben felt bad for unleashing is anger on her. Not that he believed in Gypsy curses or anything like that. Gypsies were more likely to follow you home and slit your throat in your sleep.

"Don't lose sight of your passion. It will serve you well in the days to come." She offered her hand to him.

Ben gripped it. The first thing he noticed was how soft and warm her skin was. She pulled him out of the gutter. Ben no longer felt like he had just gotten the daylights beaten out of him. His wounds had closed instantly. The gypsy was gone.

Ben pulled his hood up, got on his bike, and pedaled as hard as he could. He got to his slummy apartment in record time. There was a note taped to the door. "Call me, land lord." was all it said. Ben was behind two months in rent. Eight hundred a month for one room a bathroom and no kitchen. The landlord began price gouging after the economic crash.

Ben tore the note off the door and threw it in the trash and then into the trash bin. He took a cold shower as he thought about what his in counter with the gypsy woman. He toweled off and got his cloths on. He sat down in front of his tiny TV. He put a movie into the 360. He stared blankly at the movie he had seen hundreds of times over. He kept replaying the night's events in his head. He practically jumped out of his chair. He kicked his desk making a huge racket. "So much for pretending to not be home." Ben thought.

Ben got up and headed to the door, expecting to be met with his landlord. He opened the door slowly, he was met his former teammate AJ.

"AJ?" Ben said.

"Yeah, Ben I wanted to talk to you." AJ said.

"You wanted to talk? So you drove all the way over here? You could have just called." Ben said.

"Well, that would be the easy way out… The point is I'm here now." AJ said.

"Right well come in." Ben said. He pulled up his rolling chair and sat on the bed. "Sorry I would offer you a drink. But, the water here is brown."

"Right. Well I wanted to talk about the team." AJ said.

"Ok what about it?" Ben said.

"I want to restart the team. We need this." AJ said.

"I don't know… Those were…" Ben said as he rubbed his chin.

"Those were good times. Sure, there were fights. Moreover, we had our own fair share of struggles. However, we had adventure and a close circle of friends. Let's face it we need Team Light." AJ explained.

"You had me at the word 'Those.'" Ben smiled.

"So you're in?" AJ asked.

"Yeah I'm in. So do you know where Mid is?" Ben said.

"I have a few possible leads." AJ said.

"Well let's go find him." Ben said.

"Shouldn't we just call him?" AJ asked.

"That would be the easy way out, right?" Ben laughed.

"Well, shall we take the Ben-mobile?" AJ said.

"The Ben-mobile got stolen… then set on fire… then found by the police… who returned it to me… then junked by me… for rent money…" Ben said with a remorseful look in his eyes.

"Well we can take my jeep. It's not like I need to pay for gas or anything…" AJ sighed.

They walked out of the apartment building. AJ took this time to really absorb the sights of the city.

"What happened to this place?" AJ asked.

"I don't know. The economy crashed and then there was a surge in crime." Ben said, "So where exactly is Mid?"

"He's last mailing address is a year old." AJ said.

"Oh well, a least your information is up to date. Maybe we should have called him." Ben said. The Jeep sped off into the abandoned streets.


	3. Reunion Tour

Author's Note: Welcome to chapter 3! My my we certainly have been trucking through the chapters these past few days! This chapter brought you by me, Hitori Kennin!

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil, Halo, or any of the other games referenced in this fiction. We are making no profit from this story as it is purely a fun, fictional story!

Ben and AJ drove the dark streets for the upside of a half an hour searching for Mid's last known address, the dark hours bringing with them a lack of people out and about. They eventually came to the apartment complex that supposedly housed their former teammate. To their dismay the building was fenced off and marked as condemned.

"Aw crap." AJ said giving the steering wheel a firm pound.

"What do we do now? Do you have any more leads?" Ben questioned after giving a heavy sigh of his own.

AJ pondered the question for a moment before he shut off the jeep and stepped outside. He walked up to the fence and examined the condemned building notice; the date it was served was only a month ago.

"This building was shut down a little over a month ago." AJ said turning to face Ben whom had also exited the jeep. "If Mid was still living here when the place got shut down then chances are he may still be at the same job."

"Do you actually know where he works?" asked Ben as he leaned on the jeep crossing his arms.

"Yes I do, I just figured that it would be easier to catch him at home. After all it is, like what… 4:30 in the morning?" he replied with a shrug. "The store opens at 7am so we have a bit of waiting to do, but definitely not enough time to go back and rest a while." AJ said more to himself than anything, he had been trying to come up with a way to pass the time as there was likely nothing to do at 4:30am.

"Then maybe the first thing we should do is figure out how to keep ourselves up." Ben suggested.

AJ put on a mock expression of shock. "Ben! I'm a gamer don't ya know that a gamer is always prepared with _liquid energy_!?!" He unlocked the jeep and had Ben stand aside so he could open the passenger door. Once inside AJ opened the glove compartment and inside there was some sort of contraption attached to three different cans of energy drinks: A Monster, a Full Throttle, and a Red Bull. He hit the button on the contraption and fluid from all three cans poured into two separate bottles.

AJ pulled out the concoctions and held one out for Ben. "I call it 'Gamer a la Pwnage'" he said with a grin.

"And they say _I'm_ the crazy one." Ben said shaking his head after taking the bottle.

"They say that about all the geniuses." AJ said with a shrug before he downed his whole gamer cocktail in one swig.

When both of them had finished their drinks, AJ hopped back into the driver seat and Ben back into the passenger seat.

"Hey Ben?" AJ said turning to Ben.

"Yeah?" Ben replied.

"You wanna drive?" AJ offered with a smile.

"REALLY!?" Ben's eyes it up as an expectant look played across his face.

"Well too bad!" AJ said laughing as he started up the jeep and threw it into drive.

Ben pouted while AJ laughed at his own joke. It was fun to be the one in the driver seat for once.

"Here I got something that will make you feel better." AJ said as he reached for the 'Play CD' button on the old jeep CD player. He hit the button and the track counter clicked to one and started playing.

"Dark in the city night is a wire…" the lyrics played over the speakers. Ben and AJ both smiled as they knew the song all too well: Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran.

They played the song several times over before they reached the store that Mid worked at, it turned out to be a toy store. They found it odd however as Mid didn't really seem the type to work retail, especially retail involving children.

"It's only 5:02, we have about two hours before the store opens." Ben said looking at the clock on the radio.

"Well then, I guess all we can do now is wait" AJ said with a sigh. He turned up the radio and they would both just sit there waiting. Despite the immense amount of energy they had recently consumed, in true gamer form energy drinks were no longer as effective as they used to be. Soon both of them would pass out in their seats.

AJ squirmed and writhed as his dreams were tainted by nightmare. Horribly realistic images of grotesque creatures hacking and slashing at him among the dark hallways of some steel leviathan. It seemed to last forever, all the hacking and slashing. As fast as it all had started, it all went blank; a single phrase echoed through the darkness. 'A test of fate is never to be unexpected…' it cooed.

Meanwhile, Ben's own imagination ran rampant as his dreams were filled with images of demons and flying severed heads. He would fight with them endlessly as he meandered his way through the maze-like research facility.

AJ was shaken from his nightmare as his body gave a hard spasm and his head slipped down the window. Immediately wide awake, his optics flicked over to been who was also asleep. AJ's gaze then drifted to the clock, it read 8:23am.

"Ben, wake up we gotta go see if Mid is here" AJ said shaking Ben by the shoulder. Ben simply murmured something and turned over in his sleep. "Ben, c'mon get up!" AJ said louder and gave him a harder shake, this time it seemed to be a little bit more effective.

"Eat this mega-demon!!" Ben yelled as he threw a punch that connected directly to AJ's jaw. AJ reeled back until he hit his side of the car. Ben blinked once before he realized he was no longer in la-la land.

"Ben… what the FUCK are you dreaming about man?! No more caffeine before bed." AJ yelled while rubbing his jaw. "So if you're done sucker punching your friends, shall we go get Mid?"

"Uh… yeah sorry." Ben said rubbing the back of his head with an apologetic smile.

The both of them exited the jeep and headed inside the toy store. They thought they were going to have a hard time finding Mid in such a large store, they would have to ask around and if he was off try and find where he lived. Much to their surprise, Mid was the first person they saw when they walked in… and they couldn't help but laugh.

"Buy one item in value of twenty-five dollars or greater, get another for fifty percent off." Came the unenthusiastic tone on Mid dressed in a giant teddy bear outfit –the only visibly human characteristic being his face.

"Mommy look at the giant teddy bear!" exclaimed a little blond girl holding her mother's hand.

"I'm not really a teddy bear, see?" Mid said pointing to his face.

"But you still look like a teddy bear!" the girl exclaimed gleefully as she skipped along beside her mother further into the store; the look on Mid's face was one of utter disgust

At this point AJ and Ben were attracting a significant amount of attention as they were quite literally rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Oh yeah laugh it up wise guys" Mid said, obviously not recognizing his two former teammates. AJ was just getting off of the floor as been was still laughing too hard to uncurl from fetal position.

"Ah Mid, I know it warms your stuffing to see us again" AJ said, the hints of laughter still evident in his tone.

"AJ? Ben?" All of Mid's anger drifted away on a note of surprise. It was quite evident that these were the last two people he expected to see today.

"Yep, we came here to find you!" answered Ben as he had finally gotten up off the floor and was now standing beside AJ.

"Find me, why?" asked Mid, confusion spread across his features.

"Because I decided it's time to revive Team Light. We've all hit pretty bad times, and I know I speak for Ben and I when I say we have not been happy since the Team broke up. Sure things were crazy and things sometimes got extremely over-adventurous, but we always ended up having fun not to mention a tight knit group of friends. You can stay here playing teddy bear dress-up or you can come back and be part of the team again." He explained to Mid.

"Well… how would we afford the apartment if I quit my job?" Mid questioned, a bit skeptical about the quite idealistic plan.

"I still get checks from the military; we can live off of that until you find a better job or at least some other source of cash" AJ explained with a slight shrug. To him spending money was no big deal, because happiness did not come from money, it came from having the team back together again.

"Alright, let's get the _hell_ out of here" Mid said sounding very relieved. "I'm going to turn in this costume and then go tell my boss I quit." Mid told them before he turned around and headed toward the employee offices.

Meanwhile AJ and Ben waited outside by the jeep, the both of them simply leaning against the vehicle as they waited for their teammate to arrive. About ten minutes later Mid emerged from the building, no longer clad in his teddy bear costume.

"Who's jeep is this?" Mid asked them, slightly puzzled.

"Mine." AJ replied simply.

"Where's the Ben-mobile?" he asked looking over to Ben. Ben looked down and shook his head as if he had lost a close relative.

"I see…" Mid replied. All three of them had a moment of silence for Ben's fallen vehicle.

All three of them would clamber into the jeep and AJ started the car. Ben rode shotgun while Mid sat in the back behind Ben.

"So where to now?" asked Mid from the back.

"We're going to see if we can get John and Guillermo" replied AJ as he put the Jeep in drive and pulled out of the parking spot.

"Do you know where they live?" Ben asked the question that had also been next on Mid's list.

"No, but I do know where they work. I also happen to know that they will both be there today" AJ answered, a slight smirk on his face.

"How do you know they'll be there?" Mid asked, more than a little curious as to why he was smirking so fiendishly.

"Oh just pulled a few strings, and did some persuading." He shrugged the question off some, and something told them it was best just to leave it at that. What AJ did just worked, it was usually better not to know the how.

After about ten minutes of driving the jeep ferrying Team Light about the city pulled into the parking lot of the Marketplace Mall. Finding a relatively close parking place, AJ cut the wheel and brought them into the space before jamming the stick into park. It did not take them too long to make their way into the mall and toward their destination.

"So where is it that John and Guillermo work again?" Ben asked AJ as they passed through the crowds roving the mall.

"Right up here" AJ said as they came to a GameStop store that sat on the corner of where two mall wings met. Entering the store, Ben and Mid followed AJ as he approached the counter. AJ could already tell that the two guys behind the counter were John and Guillermo. They were busy talking too busy talking to one another to notice them enter the store.

"Hey um, do you guys have any copies of Final Fantasy XIII left?" AJ asked trying to sound very nerdy.

Guillermo snapped around to yell at what the group had to assume was the ten thousandth person to ask him today.

"How many times do I have to tell you people!?! We're out! We've been out for several days! There's a _sign_ outside that says we're out!!" Guillermo yelled.

AJ simply stood there for a few moments, a big dumb grin plastered on his face. Ben and Mid stood next to him on his left. It didn't take long for it to click as realization spread across his features.

"What are you guys doing here?!" John exclaimed.

"We're here because we're reviving Team Light. All of us have fallen into pretty hard times without it. Things back then may have gotten crazy from time to time, but we all had a close circle of friends to depend upon through those tough times. We want you guys to come back to the team." Ben explained.

"I can support the apartment costs for our old place long enough for you guys to get new jobs or find some source of income." AJ added.

Some guy from the back of the store wandered up to the counter, a scrawny freckle-faced man complete with two inch thick glasses and pocket protector.

"Do you have any copies of Final Fantasy XIII left?" he inquired, spraying the group as he spoke.

"John, I think I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him John." Guillermo said clenching his jaw.

"Wow what terrible customer service you have here." The nerdy guy jabbered angrily.

"Hey shouldn't you be heading back to your little nerd herd?" AJ retorted to the kid's comment.

"Oh is that how it is? Well at least I'll be making good money while you're working at McDonalds." The nerdy kid spat.

"Ok, hold on a second." Ben began "First off, do you even _know _what it is like to _talk_ to a woman let alone be with one? Secondly, my friend here," Ben said gesturing to AJ "could throw you over the railing of a bridge so you're beautiful brain gets splattered all over the freeway, and lastly you can't be all that smart as you not only missed the sign that said they were out of FFXIII, but you didn't get the message when Guillermo yelled it for all the world to hear." Ben finished crossing his arms, satisfied with the verbal carpet bombing he had just administered. The nerdy guy, at a loss for words turned around and walked out of the store.

"I can't take it anymore; moron's like that come in here a hundred times a day." John expressed his displeasure adding a shake of his head.

"So come back and join us" offered Mid.

"That definitely sounds better than dealing with this crap day in and day out" grunted Guillermo in his continued displeasure about the nerdy guy.

"So it's settled then?" AJ questioned looking from Guillermo to John.

"Yeah, just let us finish out our shift. If we both leave now nobody will be manning the store so we kinda have to wait." John said, obviously not happy they had to wait.

"That's fine, we'll just go wander the mall until you guys are ready." Ben replied with a nod of his head. Mid, Ben, and AJ left the store to go wander the mall for a while.

All the while they had been walking, Ben suddenly found himself lost in thought. His mind played the gypsy woman's words over and over again in his head. What did she mean? The team had gone through so much already, what more could possibly be thrown at them? What worried him more is would they be able to handle it this time, it had torn them apart before… would it do so again?

AJ on the other hand, his mind was set on the near future; their next stop was getting Rebecca. He missed her dearly, and as much as he didn't like to admit it AJ felt something for the ex-S.T.A.R.S. medic. He would never say anything out loud as he had his own inking that Ben had feelings for Rebecca as well. AJ believed that Ben deserved it more than he did though. After all, with what happened to Regina and his girlfriend history Ben was not exactly doing too well.

"Yo guys, let's check this place out." Mid asked them as they passed a clothing store that had apparently opened recently. Something else however caught AJ's eyes: a jewelry store. His instincts screamed at him to go over to the store, and eventually he would give in.

"Hey guys I'll be right back, I'm gonna go check something out." AJ called to Ben and Mid as they parted ways for a bit.

About half an hour later they reconvened outside the clothing store Mid and Ben had gone into. Both Mid and Ben carried bags alluding to the fact they had made some purchases, AJ on the other hand appeared as if he had bought nothing.

"You guys ready to continue on?" asked Ben looking from Mid to AJ.

"Yeah let's go." AJ replied as Mid nodded in the positive.

The rest of John and Guillermo's shift was spent aimlessly walking the mall and grabbing a quick bite to eat at the food court. After their last couple hours on shift, Guillermo and John handed in their resignations and punched out for the final time. They found their other three team members sitting around a table at the food court munching on various Taco Bell snacks.

"I'm tellin' you guys, this new tactics workbook I have written up is pure gold. I just need the team to carry the plans out!" AJ was saying as John and Guillermo got within earshot.

"Yeah they sound good, I need some practice though I'm rusty" Said Mid in reply.

"Alright our shift is over, you guys ready?" questioned Guillermo as he and John approached the table.

The team members sitting at the table all got up and stretched a bit agreeing that they were ready to go. Team Light –now five members strong—left the mall and headed to AJ's jeep in the parking lot. All of them piling into the jeep, AJ started the Grand Cherokee up and pulled out of the parking space.

"Next on our list is Rebecca" said AJ as he maneuvered the jeep out of the parking lot and back onto the street. "My information says that she is currently working in a small diner to pay for the rent on her apartment. The diner is right across the street from her apartment so she shouldn't be all that hard to find, but seeing as it is a Sunday and she works as a waitress, it is most likely she'll be at the diner." AJ reasoned to the rest of the team.

The half an hour drive was full of random chatter and the team catching up with one another as things began to settle into normalcy again. It was as if the team never missed a beat; all the old jokes were still being made and all the same conversations were happening as they always had. Eventually the jeep pulled up by a ruddy looking diner across from a moderately sized apartment building.

"I think this is the place." Ben said looking back down at the sheet that AJ had printed out much earlier that morning.

Relatively sure that this was the place they were looking for, AJ pulled the jeep into the diner's desolate parking lot and parked in one of the many open spots. The team piled out of the vehicle and AJ locked the doors before they all headed inside. Upon entering the run down looking hole-in-the-wall diner, they didn't see almost anyone except for the cook who didn't seem to be paying attention. As the door closed behind them the bell jangled and a voice called out from the back.

"Just a minute!" the all too familiar female voice called. Sure enough, a few seconds later Rebecca Chambers rounded the corner leading to the back rooms. She was dressed in a grimy waitress uniform and though she was smiling, AJ knew her well enough to know when she was faking it.

"Hello how many today?" she asked with forced cheer. It was obvious that she was tired; she didn't recognize any of them right away let alone give them a second look.

"Hi, we should have a reservation under 'Team Light'? Right now we have five, but we were hoping to add a sixth to our party?" AJ said smiling widely.

"What?" Rebecca snapped around with more than just simple traces of surprise spread across her face. "What are you guys doing here?!" she exclaimed, a legitimate smile creeping onto her face. AJ smiled too, it was good to see her offer a real smile.

"Well, long story short AJ showed up at my door yesterday saying that Team Light was the best thing that had happened to all of us and that since then we'd all been unhappy. He told me he was restarting the team, so we've been driving around all day rounding up everyone to see if they'd be willing to come back." Ben said with a smile of his own.

"That would be absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed happily. There was no hesitation what so ever in her answer, apparently she was less than happy being here. "Can I at least go change first?" she asked them; a true female. They all nodded and she scampered out of the diner across the street to her apartment.

"Hey AJ, even though you're driving do the same 'shotgun' rules apply as when Ben does?" asked Guillermo.

"Hmm…" AJ mused pondering the question for a moment. "…yeah I guess they do." He finished.

At those very words all the male Team Light members glared at each other before booking it out of the diner to the parking lot. AJ was quick to unlock the door with his remote as everyone was tearing at one another to be first. Soon the mass of people crashed into a gigantic do pile next to the jeep; all of them were fighting fiercely for the golden seat of shotgun.

"Wait!!" Mid yelled from amongst the dog pile and all the fighting ceased for a moment. "AJ what the hell are you doing in here, you have to drive!" Mid pointed out.

"Ooooooh… yeah you're right." AJ admitted as he pulled himself from the dog pile, his hair mussed and his shirt almost torn. Walking around to the other side of the jeep AJ hopped in, and the battle for shotgun continued. A few minutes later as the boys continued to brawl on the ground; Rebecca emerged from the apartment complex and headed over to the jeep. She opened up the passenger side door and pulled herself in.

"What are they all fighting about?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Nothing anymore." AJ replied doing his best to suppress the wave of laughter that were threatening to erupt from him. AJ honked the horn and the guys on the ground all hopped up to see that the prize of their battle had been snatched from right under their noses. They all piled into the back seats mumbling and grumbling about losing shotgun; all AJ could do was laugh at them.

Throwing the jeep into reverse AJ pulled out of the parking spot, and then soon out into the street. Their final destination was to pick up Desi, the final Team Light member. Thankfully they would not have to do too much detective work as the last known information about Desi was within the past month. The only real problem –more of an inconvenience-- was that they had dive for four hours to get to where she now resided.

AJ pulled onto the thruway and off they went on their quest to finally reunite Team Light. Their day long adventure had progressed into the dark hours of night as they drove, and about a third of the way through their journey much of the team had fallen asleep in the back from pure boredom. Rebecca riding shotgun was the only one who had yet fallen asleep.

"So Rebecca, why were you working at that restaurant?" AJ asked in passing to break that dead silence.

"Well it had not been my first choice" She explained to him after a moment "I had tried other things first. I wanted to go to get more schooling so I could actually have a profession, but that requires valid identification and money. Then I tried to join the Peace Corps to help people in other countries, but they too require a way to validate my identity. The restaurant job was the only one that would hire me on the spot and pay in cash." Rebecca explained with a small frown.

"I'm sorry Rebecca" AJ sympathized with her; he understood how hard it must have been to make it even that far without so much as simple credentials. "At least you have the team back, have Ben back." AJ added. His tone did not carry the somewhat forlorn feeling reflected in his heart, he could not betray Ben. Ben was his captain, his friend, perhaps most of all; a brother to him when he had nobody left to call family. AJ knew Ben had something for Rebecca, and he wasn't going to get in the way.

"Yeah…" was all Rebecca had to say in reply. She leaned her head against the window and in a few minutes she was drifting off to sleep.

Not even ten minutes later AJ looked at the fuel gauge, it was nearing the quarter-tank mark and that meant that it was time to fill up. He pulled off at the next gas station and stopped at the pump. He was going to leave everyone as they were but Ben got out of the car a few seconds after he did giving a light yawn and a big stretch.

"Hey I thought you were sleeping?" AJ asked Ben as he pulled the cap off of the gas tank and grabbed the fuel pump.

"I was but I'm awake now. It's pretty comfortable back there if Rebecca is going to sleep." Ben offered.

AJ nodded and headed back around to the driver side door as the pump continued to run. He opened the door and whispered over to Rebecca.

"Rebecca, we still have a ways to go, and if you're tired you can move into the back where you would be more comfortable?" AJ whispered. She squirmed a bit mumbling something before agreeing and pulling open the door and stepping outside. Rubbing her eyes some she opened the door Ben had just come out of and hopped inside to go back to sleep.

"So, it looks like we're actually gonna do it. Team Light will live again." AJ said with a relieved sounding sigh.

"Yeah, but you started all this. That would mean you're captain now." Ben said, the only hint of melancholy about aforementioned statement a quick glint in his eye.

"No Ben, I started this because the team the way it was is what we all needed. You are my Captain and the only reason I was inducted into Team Light. So, that would mean that you stay Captain." AJ replied nonchalantly.

"Thanks AJ." Ben said after a moment's pause.

AJ used a debit card to pay for the gas on the machine before they both got back into the car and continued their ride down the thruway. All the while Ben and AJ were talking about various things in whispers: the old apartment, plans, income, and gaming. The hours passed quickly and soon they were nearing their destination. Coming into this new city the followed the directions AJ had printed out with his information sheet and eventually they came to the proper high rise apartment complex.

Parking in the street the team got out of the jeep and AJ threw some coins in the meter so they wouldn't get a ticket. Together they headed into the apartment complex and took the elevator up to the thirteenth floor. After a few minutes of scouring the halls, eventually they came to apartment 314 –the apartment that was supposed to be Desi's.

Ben gave a firm knock on the door and there was some shuffling and movement inside the apartment. The door would crack open to the point the interior chain lock would allow it and Desi would look out the crack.

"Wha-what are you guys doing here?" she asked rather surprised. Something seemed off about her just by the tone in her voice. She closed the door for a moment to unlock that chain and open the door fully. She looked exhausted with heavy bags beneath her eyes.

"We're here because we're reforming Team Light and we want you back!" Ben explained to her. Before she could answer however John spoke.

"Desi is everything alright?" he asked her sounding a bit concerned. 

"Yeah something seems a bit off, is everything ok?" AJ seconded John's notion.

Desi paused longer than should have been necessary if everything was alright. She seemed rather less than the strong, and powerful Desi that everyone knew her to be.

"Come inside, I kind of have a problem…" Desi said somewhat forebodingly.


	4. A Friend in Need, Might be Dead Indeed

Author's Note: Well here's chapter 4 from Undead Light. Enjoy while I begin work on chapter 5.

Disclaimer: Do you get it yet? We OBVIOUSLY don't own Resident Evil, Halo, Silent Hill, or any other video game mentioned in this fiction!

Desi was not much better off than Ben. Her apartment was slightly bigger than his was. She had a small window on the opposite side of the room. No sun got into the room, as the oppressive brick wall of the building next door snuffed out the window. They sat on the sofa facing the TV. Desi handed Ben a few letters. He stood up and read it. In this letter, the pen was pressed deep into the paper. Like the writer was angry.

" Dear, Desi

I'm on the trail of something deep. I know the Team is over but this is serious. All the things that have happened can be explained here. In a small town called Silent Hill. I'm heading there now. I really need help.

-Steve"

Ben switched letters. This one was written by a shaky hand the words were practically illegible.

"They found me… [Illegible] cult. [Illegible] Stay back. [Illegible] Pyramid is lurking. It's a trap."

"The next one I just got today… It came with a package." Desi got up and returned with a box. She set it on the table.

"The note just says bring them…" Ben said.

They opened the box. It was a pair of thumbs and a nametag that read 'Burnside.' Rage built up inside of Ben. He looked up at them then at Desi.

"You didn't help him?" He yelled.

"I got the first note a week ago… I just want to put this behind me." Desi said.

"Look," Ben sighed realizing who he was yelling at. "I understand you were scared. But, this is serious. You should have come to me sooner. Guys, this is going faster than I would have liked, but we have a friend in the fire. And I intend to pull him out. Are you with me?" Ben said.

"You can count on my tactical abilities." AJ rose.

"You can count on my marksmanship abilities." John rose.

"You can count on my repairing abilities." Guillermo rose.

"You can count on my hacking abilities." Mid rose.

"You can count on my medical abilities!" Rebecca said.

Everyone looked at Desi. She looked down at her feet. She sobbed slightly. She looked up with tears running down her face.

"You can count on my blade!" She said.

The jeep now packed with Team Light members drove down the empty highway. It would be a long haul to Silent Hill. Ben sat in the passenger's seat reading the directions.

"This is all so… Romantic!" Rebecca said, "Us just throwing our old lives away and going back out there and chasing adventure!"

"Sure is." Guillermo said.

After a day's drive, they got to Toluca Lake. They were in a small town called Shepherd's Glen. Silent Hill was a thirty-minute drive around the lake. The AJ parked the car in an empty lot.

"What are we doing here?" Ben asked.

"This place is next to Silent Hill they'll know things about what's going on over there." AJ explained.

Downtown Shepherd's Glen was one single street with a few local businesses. The locals gave them glares as they walked past on their daily routines.

"Any one else feel unwelcome?" John asked.

"Yeah, they're glaring at us." Desi said.

"Ok, we should split up. We can find more information that way." AJ said.

"Keep it in teams of two. We don't know what these people are up too." Ben said.

"We should meet up at that bar over there in an hour." Guillermo suggested.

"Right, good plan." Ben said.

Rebecca began to follow Ben as the team went their separate ways.

"Rebecca go with AJ…." Ben ordered.

"But…" Rebecca began.

"Just do it…" Ben said coldly.

Ben did not mean to be so cold but this was all so much to take in. He was looking forward to some alone time. He sat in a back alley for a little bit.

"Just a few days ago I had a landlord out to rip my throat out, a boss sealing money from me… And today I'm homeless and on the other side of the country." Ben sighed. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I won't fall aslee…" He drifted into a dreamland.

"What do you know about Silent Hill?" Mid yelled at a couple walking down the street. They glared at him. He approached another person. "What do you know about Silent Hill?" He yelled.

"Stay away from me you freak!" The person said.

"Mid, we should be keeping a low profile." Guillermo said.

"Being loud works! I'll get answers!" Mid yelled at Guillermo who was standing right next to him.

"Gah! You don't need to scream!" Guillermo said.

"Hey kid!" Mid yelled.

"Yes?" The child looked up at Mid.

"Do you play Halo?" Mid asked.

"Yes." The kid replied.

"Are you pro?" Mid asked calmly.

"No…." The boy said.

"Then you suck kid!" Mid screamed his voice traveled through the town. A bartender looked up as his bar shook with the force of Mid's voice.

"Earthquake!" The bartender yelled as he ran for a door way.

Rebecca and AJ jogged up the block to the town hall. They walked into the small building. The receptionist jump and looked up at them quickly trying to close a Facebook page.

"Welcome to Shepherd's Glen, outsiders." _Outsiders_ the word rang in AJ's mind. "What can we do for you? Did you get a flat? That's what happens most of the time. Curtis can help you. I'll call him." Her smile never faded, but there was no doubt it was forced. She looked like a porcelain doll. Resentment burned in her eyes.

"We didn't get a flat." AJ began.

"We're tourists! On our honeymoon! Toluca Lake is so beautiful!" Rebecca grabbed AJ's arm. AJ's cheeks turned red.

"Aw, your honeymoon! You two make a cute couple!" She said. Her armor had been chipped away. "Ok, well what do you want to know?"

"What can you tell us about the local history?" Rebecca asked. "I'm a bit of a history nut."

"Well we were founded by five families, the Holloway, Bartlett, Fitch, and Shepherd families. And as time went on we became the booming metropolis you now see." The receptionist joked. She seemed to be a lot nicer now.

"I noticed a small town across the lake. What can you tell me about it?" AJ asked.

"Don't go there. We have a better view of the lake! Our stores have more selection. And our people are nicer! Please stay at one of our inns!" She said.

"She is right honey. The view is very pretty on this side of the lake." Rebecca said.

"Yeah, we'll leave you to your duties." AJ said. The two walked out of the building. Once outside and out of earshot AJ spoke again. "If their people are nicer, I'd hate to see the people of Silent Hill."

Desi ran the sharpening stone down her sword. She repeated the process repeatedly. John looked at the screen of his Iphone.

"Man this shit hole doesn't even have 3G…" He mumbled as he browsed through Google's links. He found a small domain used as a fan page for a Sun God. "Check it out. Silent Hill's cult fan site got more hits than that Fan Fic Ben and AJ are working on!" John joked.

"What did you find?" Desi said not looking up from her blade.

"Well according to this site. Silent Hill's cult is some witch hunting sun worshiping extremist group. Yeah, she sounds like one vengeful bitch." John said.

Darkness consumed the streets of Shepherd's Glen. Ben jolted to life. Something was not right. The walls around him were metal and heavily rusted.

"What the… Where am I?" Ben spoke to himself.

He pulled himself up. It was almost impossible to see. There were no stars in the sky no moon nothing to give any indication where he was. It was just pitch black… He jogged headed to the end of the alley. He practically ran into a chain link fence.

"What the…" Ben looked up to see how high the fence went. The fence was a high as the buildings around him. Barbed wire covered the top part of the fence. Even if he climbed up, he would just fall. Ben turned around and headed deeper into the ally.

He heard the soft moan before he saw the tortured soul. A man cut in half at the waist was mounted on a cross. His he looked up at Ben.

"Hell… Hell… Hell…" He repeated. Was he describing the area around him or asking for help?

Ben noticed something about the man's clothing, a symbol above the breast, "S.T.A.R.S."

"Who are you?" Ben asked. The man was clearly a member of S.T.A.R.S. The nametag was blurry. Ben squinted to read it. However, nothing worked. He could not make out the name. The man had past away before Ben got a reply.

Ben felt he was not alone. He turned around to see a child sized monster look up at him. It screamed at him. Ben kicked himself for letting the little monster get so close. It lunged to bite him.

Ben dove out of the way. He knocked over a few trashcans. Blood and body parts fell out of the cans and onto the ground. The mumbling monster stuck a tiny knife into Ben's ankle. He yelled in pain and grabbed the lid of one of the cans. He jumped to his feet and quickly limped a small distance away. He knelt and held the lid out in front of him like a shield.

The monster mumbled with a taunting tone in a langue Ben did not know. Ben yelled as the beast threw itself against the shield. The knife flew into the darkness. Ben reeled back and readied for a shield bash. The attack stunned the child-sized monster. Ben closed his fist and swung. The punch caught the monster in the side of the head. Ben leapt to a stand and drove his knee into the monster's head. The monster fell on its back. Ben finished it with a quick curb stomp. The monster turned to ash and was spread away by an undetectable wind.

Ben turned around and headed back the way he came. A child size hole was now cut into the fence. Ben did his best to squeeze though. He was now in the middle of the street. He took a left and began to head to the bar he was supposed to rendezvous with the team.

His next step was met only with air. He had run off the side of a cliff! His heart pounded as he reached out to grab something… Anything… His fingers latched onto the ledge. He looked down to see the trash can lid disappear into the darkness. He pulled himself up. He had not even seen the ledge. A small bridge had been built out of lumber and ply wood. The wood creaked and bent under Ben's weight. Ben looked down he froze with fear for a moment. Then, shook his head and kept moving.

Ben's heart stopped as the bridge gave way. He leapt at the last second. He landed hitting the asphalt in a rolling motion. Ben rose and dusted himself off.

"I knew that Human Reliance feat would come in handy, plus one to all saving throws." Ben joked. He continued his run to the bar.

He heard an annoying screech. It sounded like a heavy metal object scraping against the ground. He saw a giant figure standing in his path. He got closer and saw the details; the monster wore a giant Pyramid Helmet. He dragged a huge double bladed war blade. It resembled the energy sword from Halo. The monster sung the heavy blade with the greatest of ease.

"No!" The sun burned Ben's eyes. He looked around. He was back in Shepherd's Glen. He got up and stumbled out of the alley. "Hey buddy?" Ben asked the first man he could see.

"What can I do for you partner?" The man asked.

"You got the time?" Ben asked.

"You were asleep for about five minutes." The man said, "What are you going to do in Silent Hill?"

"Word travels around here… Who are you?" Ben said.

"The name is Travis. I drive up and down these highways. I know all about these highway towns. What brings you here?" Travis asked.

"A friend… He went missing here." Ben said.

"That's happening a lot now." Travis motioned over to the community billboard. Instead of events and advertisements for the local area, it displayed missing person's posters. "Are you going into Silent Hill?"

"I intend too." Ben said.

"Take this." Travis handed Ben an old radio. "You'll know what it's for." Ben took the old radio and looked down at it. "Grady" was written on the radio in black permeate marker. Ben looked up but the man was gone.

Ben waited in the bar. His teammates arrived in groups shortly their after. They exchanged information. The bar tender picked up the phone and made a call. It was a short while later when the police arrived. The sheriff and two dubieties marched into the bar. They walked right up to Team Light.

"We've received reports of a group of outsiders…" There was that word again, "…disturbing our peace!" The sheriff said. "You are all under arrest!"

Guillermo calmly picked up is phone. Then, with a lazy sigh he dialed a few numbers. John's phone rang…

"Sorry officers, I need to take this…" John answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, John get a load of these rednecks!" Guillermo said.

"I know it's like they haven't heard of the constitution!" John said.

"Yeah, we're about to get some Bible Belt Justice…" Guillermo laughed.

"Hey Guillermo?" John said with a wide grin.

"Yes John?" Guillermo knew something epic as about to be said.

"Do you smell bacon?" John asked.

"You know I do! I do smell bacon! Man look at the size of this guy. I can see why his wife cheats on him!" Guillermo said.

"I know! Well I gotta go…" John hung up the phone. "Sorry officers completely unrelated business."

Ben finally stepped forward. "These aren't the donuts you're looking for." He said with the wave of a hand.

"Alright enough!" The sheriff yelled. "Cuff them."

The team was lead out of the bar in handcuffs. A large police force met them in the parking lot.

"Well Sheriff, is this the whole force?" Guillermo laughed.

"You you're coming with me!" The Sheriff grabbed Guillermo into his cruiser.

The caravan rolled along the abandoned streets. The people of Shepherd's Glen cheered the police on. As they passed through an intersection an unmarked van ran the stop sign.

"The Order!" The driver of the police cruiser screamed and he slammed the brakes. The cruiser slammed into the van. Then a few cruisers piled up into a massive wreck. The van flipped on its side. Out of the wreck emerged a few men dressed in old miner's outfits.

Vans drove in all around town. "The Order" began killing and abducting the citizens of Shepherd's Glen. As The Order attacked Shepherd's Glen a dense fog rolled in from the south, covering the town of Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen.

Ben pulled himself out of the wreck. His head felt like it was spinning as he looked out of the wreck. Desi was already taking the fight to The Order. He turned around and as one of The Order members hit him with a crowbar. He toppled over. His last sight before darkness consumed him was of Order members overwhelming Desi and working her to the ground.

**While the battle between Team Light and The Order raged on in Shepherd's Glen Mid stumbled around. He tried to get away from the fighting. He stumbled into a back alley. Mid noticed a small ruby on the ground. As he picked it up a UFO hovered over the town. Mid was picked up by a gravity lift… The Order and Team Light stopped fighting for a moment to watch in awe as Mid as abducted by aliens… **

Ben twitched in his unconscious state. He woke up on a pretty farm. He wore a plaid shirt and jeans

"Golly gee, I shure do love takin' naps in the sun!" Ben said with a yawn. He looked out onto his farm. The cows needed to be milked. Ben skipped over to the cows. "Come here Bessie!" Ben said as a bucket appeared in his hands. He milked Bessie then he noticed his raspberries were ripe. So he skipped over to the field. The bucket full of milk turned into a bundle of coins. He with drew his basket from his inventory and began picking raspberries.

Ben's neighbor AJ walked onto Ben's farm. Ben walked over to greet his neighbor with a wide smile.

"Howdy neighbor I found this fuel while plowing my crops and I want to share it with you!" Ben said.

"Ben, you really need to get back on task. This chapter of the Fan Fiction is already over due…" AJ said.

"But, I'm harvesting raspberries!" Ben whined.

"Ben, stop playing Farmville and get back to writing!" AJ demanded.

"Ok… Can you harvest my raspberries before they wither?" Ben asked.

"Sure buddy!" AJ said. Ben vanished. AJ looked around at Ben's farm. He drew his flamethrower and sit fire to the farm. He made Bessie into hamburger… He ate very well indeed….

Ben awoke in a small room. Torture devices were spread out on the racks all around the room. He had no idea where he was. The floors were wet with blood.

"I left Farmville for this!?" Ben yelled.

Desi woke in a wrecked van. The prisoners and guards were all killed on impact. Desi's blade had been thrown around in the crash. It was now lodged in the body of one of The Order members who rode in the back of the van. She withdrew the blade. He sprang to life screaming in pain. Desi jumped and let out an involuntary yelp and drove the blade into the man's neck. He fell over dead. No one surprises Desi and lives to tell about it! NO ONE!

Desi kicked the doors to the back of the van. She leapt out and looked around. A dense fog filled the air. The van had been teetering over a ledge and she turned around the van rolled over and smashed into the ground sixty feet below. Desi looked over with a grim expression. A giant "Welcome to Silent Hill" sign could be seen in the distance.

The van screeched to a halt. John woke up to see red and blue flashing lights illuminating the area. He could see a female cop walking up the van. She was unaware the driver had a handgun in his lap. John yelled trying to get her attention. The driver got out of the car and gunshots were exchanged…John swore and struggled with his restraints.

Guillermo sat in a jail cell. He looked out of his window. All he could not make anything out in the fog. He had no idea where he was. A dead cop lay on the ground outside of the cell. The body was mutilated. A key ring was looped around his belt. Guillermo reached out to grab the keys. An unearthly noise could be heard in the distance.

**Rebecca and AJ sat in the back seat AJ had the broken radio hooked on to his belt. Rebecca looked at him. They had both been gagged. Rebecca's look of fear said it all. "They're going to kill us." The minivan pulled** **up to a large building called Alchemilla Hospital. The Order soldiers pulled them out of the van after they parked. ** "**Help AJ!" Rebecca screamed as they pulled her inside.** "**I'll save you!" AJ yelled.** **AJ was forced onto a gurney and strapped down. He could hear Rebecca's screams echoing from the halls. AJ looked up at the man who was pushing the gurney. He wore a hazmat suit.** "**Where are you taking me?" AJ demanded.** **There was no reply. The solider pushed AJ into an operating room. A doctor was in the room. He looked up and greeted them with a smile.** "**Bring my patient in!" The doctor ordered. The soldier did what he was told without a word. "You may leave us." The doctor said. The solider walked away without a word closing the door behind him. ** "**I'm not sick!" AJ yelled.** "**Oh but you are! You see, you are here!" The doctor explained.** "**I was forced here! I'm fine!" AJ yelled.** "**Well, I'm the doctor here. And I say you are sick and need an operation… Now if you excuse me I'm going to wash my hands and put gloves on. We don't want to get sick now do we?" The doctor said.** **As the doctor walked over to the sink AJ could distinctly hear a loud screeching noise. Like something heavy being dragged through the halls. A large man burst through the door shattering the frame. He dragged a large blade behind him. He wore a giant pyramid helm. He picked up the blade and lunged with a loud whoosh. ** **Feces ran down the not so good doctor's legs and the giant blade struck him. The doctor was impaled onto the far wall.** "**Mommy…" The doctor said as Pyramid Head brought the blade up slicing through the doctor's body, cutting him almost in half. Pyramid Head approached AJ and looked down at him. As if, he was contemplating what to do. Pyramid Head walked away from AJ dragging the giant blade behind, leaving AJ to fight with his restraints.** _**Team Light has been drawn into the depths of Silent Hill… Time will only tell who will survive if any of them do… **_


	5. Nightmares: A Test of Fate?

Authors Note: Well here's Chapter 5, not much more to say! This chapter by me, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: We don't own Resident Evil, Halo, Silent Hill, or any other video game referenced in this fiction.

AJ was struggling against the wrist restraints that kept him bound to the gurney as Pyramid Head entered the room and killed the 'good doctor'. His gaze wandered up to meet the cold steel of the Pyramid helmet that the beast favored, as he stopped struggling against the restraints.

"Do it if you're going to do it, I won't cry or beg." AJ spat defiantly. To his utter surprise the blade wielding monster turned his back and left AJ pinned to the gurney.

Sighing heavily AJ returned to his struggle against the restraints that kept him on the gurney. Coming to an abrupt stop AJ calmed himself; he knew he needed to conserve his strength as the day ahead would be long and strenuous. The tactician looked from one wrist restraint to the other; they consisted of rope tightly bound to the rails on the side of the gurney. These Order characters obviously had a lot of experience in tying people up, so chances were he would find no fault in the bindings. AJ cycled through his options before he settled on the best idea.

He brought his foot up and placed it on the gurney rail that the binding was tied to. AJ gave it a strong push but the rail didn't give. Drawing his leg back he pounded the rail repeatedly, the bolts keeping it together finally giving in as the rail snapped off the base of the gurney. He slid the binding off the busted rail and with a free hand, getting the other untied was no difficult task.

Once free AJ searched for something he could use as a weapon until he could get his hands on something more effective. The ground in the operating theater was littered with surgical tools and AJ found a surgical knife with a decent sized blade. Examining the blade he tested it's durability to make sure it would not break when he needed it to work. Satisfied he flipped the weapon to hold it backhanded –AJ had always found that more comfortable and fitting of his fighting style.

Venturing out into the hallway carefully he checked each direction, nothing but darkness, rust, and peeling walls in both directions. Thinking for a moment AJ collected his thoughts and decided that his first priority was finding Rebecca. All he knew was that she was in the hospital somewhere and that the halls were likely crawling with Order soldiers.

Deciding on a direction he turned left out of the operating theater and quietly made his way down the hallway. To say all was silent would be a bold faced lie; the hallways, the floor, the very structure of the building seemed to creak and crackle on its own. The ambient sound only served to add to AJ's paranoia, his senses attuned to every snap and creak around him.

AJ made another left into the first hallway that appeared along the wall. Stopping near immediately he could see a figure looming in the hallway, its back to him. It looked to be an Order Soldier from the look of its rag tag armor and the pipe it carried in its left hand. What caught AJ's attention however was the pistol holstered on the soldier's right hip. If he could sneak up on the Order Soldier, perhaps he could dispatch him without a struggle.

Holding his breath AJ crept toward the Order soldier, his footsteps masked by the ambient sound of the building around him. Several beads of sweat ran down his face as AJ's heart beat heavily in his ears. Closing the distance between himself and the Order soldier he readied the surgical knife. Slowly reaching up he suddenly snatched the soldier around his head and pulled it back to expose his neck. Acting quickly, AJ drove the surgical knife deep into his throat before yanking it hard to the left and tearing it out the side of his neck.

The crimson lifeblood of the soldier spurted from his severed arteries onto the walls and floor to mix with the rust common of Silent Hill. The soldier gurgled loudly as his blood quickly began to fill his lungs; the race to see if he would bleed out or drown in his own fluids was on. Stepping back AJ let the soldier fall to his knees and clutch at his throat before falling to the floor, dead on impact.

Breathing heavily AJ looked down at the carnage he created, the blood pooling beneath the soldier's body. Looking from the body to his hands he stared at the blood that coated his unsteady fist and the surgical knife. A feeling of dread set into the pit of his stomach before he shook it off knowing Rebecca needed his help.

AJ crouched down and wiped the blood off on the soldiers back and pocketed the surgical knife. Now with both of his hands free, he pulled the pistol and its holster off of the dead soldier and put it on his own belt. As he drew the pistol from its holster and prepared to head further down the hall, the radio on the Order crackled to life.

"Prisoner secur--… o…--th floor of hosp--… ure wil--… hortly…" the man over the radio spoke, much of his message garbled in static. As much of the message was lost, AJ was sure that he was talking about Rebecca; after all she too was taken into the hospital and from the sound of it she was on one of the upper floors.

AJ 's brow furrowed for a moment, he had to save Rebecca no matter what it took. Bringing up the pistol –an old Colt M1911-- he drew back the slide and chambered a round. An intense feeling of discomfort suddenly washed over him, as if something was watching him. AJ spun around quickly looking for any sign of his stalker. The ceiling above him creaked suddenly, a creak that sounded out of synch with the rest of the ambient noise.

Holding his breath AJ scanned the hallway for a few moments, but to no avail. Forcing himself to move onward he headed down the hallway, pistol ready. The rest of the hallway was devoid of all life until he reached the elevator. Pressing the call button the door opened instantly and allowed him inside. The rusty look and screeching sound the elevator made when he stepped inside made AJ uneasy, but there was no other option right now; the elevator was the quickest route to Rebecca and every second counted.

AJ hit the button for the top floor, figuring he could work his way down from there. The elevator screeched as the rusty cables brought it up the elevator shaft. The elevator slowed only a few floors and the doors began to squeak open. Slightly confused AJ raised his pistol wondering if someone else had hit the call button. Before the doors had fully opened the cables of the elevator let out a loud creak before a metallic snap rang out. The elevator began to shake and the doors were just open enough for AJ to dive out onto the floor before the elevator gave way and fell down the elevator shaft.

AJ's hard impact to the floor caused him to lose grip on the pistol as it skittered across the floor. AJ looked up from his face down, prone position to see a pair of heavy boots less than a foot from his face.

"Oooooh shit…" was all AJ had a chance to say before he was hoisted from his prone position and suspended in the air. He found himself face to face with another Order soldier, but this soldier looked like he had his wheaties for breakfast. The Order soldier drew back and threw AJ into the wall with all his might. AJ impacted the wall with a hard metallic thud before collapsing to the floor.

Scrambling to his feet AJ had barely enough time to get up before the soldier wound up and let fly a devastating punch that connected with AJ's ribs. The tactician hit the wall again but did not falter this time. Trying to retaliate, AJ threw a punch of its own which struck the soldier square in the chest. AJ's attack did nothing to slow the monstrously sized Order soldier. The soldier drew back his foot and struck AJ in the chest, putting him on his back.

Groaning a bit AJ managed to pull himself to his feet once more, the pain shooting through his ribs and head nearly incapacitating him. The Order soldier was between him and the elevator shaft, and in that fact AJ saw his opening. Mustering up all the strength he could AJ sprinted at the soldier. Pushing off the ground he lifted up both of his legs and effectively dropkicked the Order soldier. The heavily armored man reeled backward, off balance from the transfer of momentum. One, two, three steps and he fell backward into the elevator shaft. Several long moments went by by before the dull thud echoed up the shaft.

"Looks like someone just got shafted" said AJ trying to sound cool as he approached the elevator shaft.

"Aw boo!" some random voice echoed from the bowels of nowhere. AJ's head shot around in confusion looking for the source, but to no avail.

AJ searched the floor for his pistol, eventually finding it up against a wall down the hall a bit. Picking it up he checked to make sure it was still in working order. Satisfied that it was he readied himself and headed down the hall again. An eerie sort of 'darker-than-dark' settled into the hallway as AJ pressed forward.

Ahead of him, AJ noticed a large mass laying on the ground and another figure looming above it. As he got closer the supposedly broken radio he had started crackling with static and white noise. The still standing figure turned to face him. It looked like a soldier of some kind, but not like the order soldier. It wore a long black trench coat and dark grey combat fatigues beneath tucked into boots. A helmet sat atop its head as a gas mask obscured its face, but what caused that feeling of dread to settle back into AJ's stomach was the eyes. Behind the lenses of the gas mask, a fiery glow illuminated the area in front of the soldier as smoke curled from the filter of the gas mask.

In the illumination provided by the eyes of the gas mask, AJ could see the mutilated corpse of an Order soldier at its feet. The bizarre creature screeched and gargled strange noises at AJ before it started walking at him. The creature's moves were erratic and jerky as if controlled by a puppeteer with cerebral palsy.

A burst of adrenaline spiking his blood AJ aimed the pistol and fired. The .45 round impacted the creature and a spout of flame erupted from the bullet hole. AJ fired a two more rounds. The first struck it in the upper chest causing another burst of flame, the second hit home directly in the right lens of the fiery soldier's gas mask. Flames jutted out of the soldiers mask as it screeched and writhed before the flame consumed it, and its body dissolved into a pile of ash.

"What the hell is going on around here?" AJ huffed, his heart rate elevated far beyond normal. The static subsided momentarily, but a few moments after it started to pick up again. His head shot up to look down the hallway in front of him, but it was devoid of anything as far as AJ could see. The static got louder and more erratic as AJ heard the same screeching and gurgle that had come from the creature-soldier he had just slain.

His head snapping around, AJ felt a cold weight settle into his stomach. Approaching from behind him were dozens of the flame-soldiers, their seizure-like movements giving the illusion of a stop motion horror movie.

There were far too many of them for AJ to fight, so he spun on his heel and ran. He sprinted as hard and as fast as he could, turning as many corners as possible to put distance between himself and the walking nightmares. When he could run no longer he stopped to catch his breath, heart pounding right out of his chest.

When AJ had managed to regain his composure all had fallen back into place in his surroundings; the ambient creaking and crackle of the old hospital was now the only sound outside of his breathing.

Wandering the hallways once more he continued his search for Rebecca, and more than once did he find a mutilated Order soldier corpse. Outside of what appeared to be an old doctors office, AJ found two Order soldier corpses that appeared to have been standing guard. His first thought as to what they could have been guarding was Rebecca. Stepping into the office slowly, he raised his pistol and cleared the room. There was nothing of interest in the office save for a large grandfather clock ticking the day away on the opposite wall. Turning to leave the office something suddenly felt wrong, all was once more dead silent. It took a second for him to realize that even the grandfather clock had stopped ticking.

AJ reached back for the radio only to find that he had lost it, likely in his run away from the fiery soldiers. Standing dead still, AJ couldn't even hear his own breathing. In his paranoia AJ suddenly snapped forward, pistol raised. The moment his back was to the interior of the room a cold shiver ran down his spine as he felt two hands press against his back.

Jolting forward he spun and took aim only to find that the hands had belong to none other than Rebecca.

"Oh AJ thank God you found me!" she exclaimed. Her voice seemed to boom through the eerie silence. She was smiling, but something about it just seemed off. Then again, who wouldn't feel a bit off after having just been kidnapped and likely tortured.

"Oh Rebecca, you're alive! Are you ok? Are you hurt?" AJ asked lowering his weapon.

"I'm completely fine now that you're here." She said taking a step towards him. AJ wasn't sure why but something at the back of his mind was screaming at him that it was all wrong; this sense of unease caused him to shift nervously in his place. Rebecca reached out to touch his arm and the moment her skin touched the flesh of his forearm he got goose bumps all over. Her touch was cold and clammy, almost as if she were _dead._

AJ took an abrupt step back, the look on his face was one of complete confusion and suspicion.

"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked, looking concerned.

Confusion still evident on his features, AJ slowly raised his pistol in her direction.

"What are you doing? It's me, Rebecca!" She exclaimed looking hurt that he supposedly didn't recognize her. AJ knew something was very wrong; he just needed to prove it. A question perhaps? A very odd question that went beyond just knowing the answer.

"How long have we been married?" AJ asked carefully, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.

"What do you mean? You don't think I still remember the day we got married?" she replied still acting hurt.

"We aren't married." AJ said, his tone getting low as an icy edge crept into his voice. He raised the pistol taking definitive aim this time.

"Wha-What are you doing? It's me, Rebecca!" she said, tears filling up her eyes.

AJ hesitated, the tears causing the briefest moment of second thoughts. Seeing his hesitation, 'Rebecca' took advantage. The illusion disappeared with a demonic roar that shook the whole room. The glass of the grandfather clock exploded as did the monitors of all the computers in the office. The changeling showed its true form, a vaguely humanoid creature –the skin stripped from the muscle of its body. It had four arms each with hands sporting three fingers with razor sharp talons. It had two slits where the eyes should be and a mouth lined with jagged fangs.

Startled AJ fired his weapon, but the changeling was fast; the creature jumped onto the ceiling to avoid the shot. Unable to compensate for his aim and take another shot in time, the beast pounced on him from the ceiling; it pinned his gun arm to the floor while roaring loudly in AJ's face. Thinking fast before the beast could pin his other arm AJ shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the surgical knife.

AJ wound up and stabbed the creature in the slit it had for an eye socket. The monster screamed in pain, reeling back and releasing AJ's gun arm. Immediately bringing the weapon to bear, he fired at the creature's chest. The round bore into the creature's torso and the wounded beast fell backward to the ground. Getting to his feet, AJ moved over the creature that was squirming on the ground.

"Go back to hell." AJ growled hovering over the monster. He lifted up his foot and stomped on the surgical knife that was stuck in the creature's head. There was a sickening crack as the surgical knife pierced deep into the monster's skull; the creature writhed a moment before it went limp.

Stepping back AJ closed his eyes for longer than a standard blink as he took a deep breath. Exiting the office back into the hall he returned to his search for Rebecca. It wasn't long after he slipped away from the office scuffle that he had that feeling he was being watched again.

There was a scratching noise on the ceiling that caused AJ's heart to skip a beat. He snapped around pistol raised. There was a loud screeching as a gust of wind blew by him. A split second after, a sharp pain reached his awareness. He looked to his left shoulder to find a fresh gash that tore right through his shirt to draw blood, nothing more than a grazing blow… but _something_ put it there. Quickly spinning around once more, a pair of luminescent yellow eyes stared back at him. Problem was, that's _all_ they were; there was nothing that he could see but the eyes. The creature screeched again and the eyes suddenly darted at him.

In a panic, AJ fired his weapon and invisible creature roared in anguish as apparently the bullet made contact. Struck by the bullet the creature stopped its attack and lumbered into the wall, black blood seemed to pour from thin air. There was a vaguely distinguishable outline that warped the air as the blood ran down the beast's outline.

Roaring in defiance the creature took off down the hallway in the direction AJ had to go, its luminescent eyes disappearing into the dark. Spewing a few choice profanities, AJ continued down the hallway slow and carefully.

It would be about ten minutes before he spotted the thick black blood of the creature leaving a trail on the floor. He followed the trail until it went up the wall and ultimately stopped on the ceiling. Holding his breath, AJ could hear the creature's heavy breathing and then he saw some more blood drip from a spot on the ceiling. It would seem the creature was resting, trying to recover from its wounds. Scrutinizing the area carefully he distinguished the outline of the beast and pointed the pistol at the back of its head.

"A preemptive strike…" AJ whispered to himself and pulled the trigger. A spurt of black blood rained down upon him as the creature fell from the ceiling, most definitely dead. He watched the black blood materialize from seemingly nowhere as it pooled on the floor. For some reason however, AJ felt like he was being watched again.

Turning around slowly, AJ's eyes widened and his jaw hung agape. As far down the hallway as he could see, luminescent yellow eyes awakened to settle on the slayer of their brother.

A single twitch in his eye replaced the hundreds of thousands of profanities that raced through his mind. Turning on his heel AJ was once more sprinting down the dark hallways of the ruined hospital; behind him a deafening series of screeches was close behind. His mind scrambled franticly for a way out of his situation.

Ahead of him two shadows loomed in the darkness. As he closed the distance he saw that they were Order Soldiers. Hearing AJ's heavy footsteps coming down the hallway they turned to face him. Without even so much as a second thought he dodged them and continued running at a dead sprint. Not even a few seconds after, he could hear the screams and the sickening tear of flesh as the invisible creatures ripped apart his unfortunate diversion.

Bursting through the door at the end of the hall, AJ slammed it shut behind him. Panting heavily he put his back against the door he found himself in a stairwell. Finally, he could get to the next floor of the hospital.

Taking the stairs to the top floor, AJ had a sinking feeling that this is where the Order would take prisoners; the sign above the door read 'Secondary-Surgical Ward'. Opening the door he headed into the new set of hallways. Slow and steady he navigated the hall until he came to a three-way intersection. Peeking around the corner he saw an Order soldier several meters down the hallway guarding a door. The soldier was armed with an old M1 rifle –a bayonet affixed to the muzzle-- and just as armored as the rest. If AJ used the pistol to kill the Order soldier, he risked alerting whoever was behind the door he was guarding.

The tactician's mind sorted through various plans until it settled on one he liked. Taking out his cell phone –which of course had no signal—he programmed it so the alarm would go off in one minute's time. Crouching down, AJ slid the phone across the floor to the opposite side of the intersection. Pressing himself against the wall, he waited patiently for the alarm to go off. When it did he could hear the Order soldier's surprised mumblings as he moved to investigate the noise. He appeared from around the corner and turned his back to AJ to investigate the cell phone alarm.

AJ started sneaking up behind him as soon as the soldier turned his back to him; once he was close enough he struck. He grabbed the Order soldier around his neck and kicked in his knee. As the soldier began to fall AJ held him up by his head; not giving the soldier any time to break free, AJ yanked the soldier's head hard to the right with a wet snap of breaking vertebrae. The soldier stopped struggling and AJ let his body fall to the floor. Eyeing up the body, AJ developed another plan.

Meanwhile, inside the room the Order soldier had been guarding five Order soldiers stood watching Rebecca who was tied to an examination chair in the center of the room.

"We wasted a lot of time trying to get this one all the way up here, not to mention we lost Rory and Leopold in the process." One of the Order soldiers said.

"Yes, now it would seem we don't have all that much time to play with our guest before we have to leave. But don't worry, we'll make _every_ second count." Another soldier added.

The door clicked open and the Order soldier carrying the bayoneted M1 rifle stepped inside. The other Order soldiers turned to look at the door.

"What? Is something wrong?" one of the soldiers asked. The Order soldier with the M1 rifle shook his head.

"Then what are you doing in here, you're supposed to be standing watch!" another soldier spoke up, sounding angry.

"I have come, to destroy you." The Order soldier with the M1 replied. Taking aim, the disguised AJ targeted the Order soldier furthest back and fired. The .30-06 round ripped through soldier with ease, splattering the wall behind him in crimson. Adjusting his aim in a fraction of a second he targeted the next furthest soldier and shot him as well. The bullet struck his head and bits of bone and brain matter exploded out the other side.

One of the closest Order soldiers rushed him with a pipe and AJ turned to fire. The rifle made a metallic snapping noise as the firing mechanism jammed. Looking up AJ had just enough time to sidestep the vicious downward blow directed at him. Drawing back the rifle, he drove the bayonet into the Order soldier's thigh. The soldier cried out in pain and AJ pulled out the rifle and stabbed him again –this time in the chest. Bringing up his foot, AJ kicked the corpse off the rifle's bayonet.

The soldier nearest Rebecca in the center of the room moved to draw a weapon from his hip. AJ took the rifle, flipped it up and threw it like a spear at the Order soldier. The bayoneted M1 impaled the soldier in his upper chest and he crashed to the ground --the rifle sticking straight up in the air. The final Order soldier tried to run, but AJ would have none of it.

Pulling his pistol he fired as quickly as he could and the round caught the fleeing soldier in the back of his right knee. AJ moved to pull the M1 from the body of the Order soldier it was buried in. He slowly approached the Order soldier who was desperately trying to crawl away. Raising the rifle he stabbed the man in the back. The soldier reached out to something unseen groaning loudly before AJ twisted the rifle and ended the soldier's struggle.

AJ dropped the rifle and reached up to pull the goggles and the wrappings from his face. Moving quickly he made his way over to the bound and gagged Rebecca.

"Rebecca!" AJ exclaimed, overjoyed to see that she was alive. He removed the gag from her mouth and unbound her hands and her feet. She looked a little worse for wear, a few scrapes and bruises but nothing serious.

Rebecca immediately sprang out of the chair and hugged him.

"Oh my God you're alive, thank you so much!" she said sounding very relieved. "The things they were saying, what they said they did to you… what they said they were going to do to me." She said quietly after letting him go.

"We're fine now, but we have to get moving." He said calmly. "There are things here… horrible things. Creatures the like of which I've never seen before." He finished shaking his head. "Let's strip these guys of weapons and get the hell out of here."

---

"Find the interloper! He's broken free from the cargo hold!" the displeased voice of the Shipmaster boomed over the Covenant vessel's speaker system.

Panicked groups of elites and grunts dashed through the corridors of the _Merciful Inquisitor_. They were searching for the escaped human they had abducted earlier.

"There! There it is!" cried one of the Elites pointing at a fleeting shadow that had dashed across the corridor.

"Where? It's gone!" cried another Elite.

"How can one so _fluffy_ be so _fast_!?" exclaimed a terrified grunt.

"You three," thundered the harsh tones of a red armored elite "search that corridor, report back what you find!"

"But-but!" one of the grunts tried to protest.

"GO!!" the elite snarled. The grunts yelped and bolted down the designated corridor.

Meanwhile Mid clung to the ceiling in the darkened ship hallway. Somehow he was now shirtless wearing camouflage fatigues, combat boots, and a red bandana. A creepy smile played across his face when he heard the trio of grunts trotting down the corridor.

"See him? See him?" questioned one of the grunts.

"No, must move." Replied the grunt clad in red armor, sniffing the air.

As the grunts passed under him, Mid dropped from the ceiling. He landed a few feet in front of the grunt formation and they all yelped like wounded pups.

"All your base are belong… to _me_!" Mid yelled at them. Without so much as a moment's hesitation he snatched up the red armored grunt and sprinted down the hall.

"Nooooo, not _again!_" the captured grunt wailed.

"Snapnaw!!" the two remaining grunts yelled after their friend, unable to do anything as he was carried away.

Twenty minutes later, Mid returned to the hallway intersection where the elites waited for the grunts to return… he was wearing the captured grunt's armor.

"Soldier what have you to report?" the red armored Elite demanded of Mid.

"He's horrible Excellency! Fast, strong, and extremely handsome!" Mid told the Elite.

The veteran Elite narrowed his eyes at Mid.

"What is your name soldier?"

"Uh, Snapcracklepop… Ricecrispies." The faux-grunt replied quickly.

"I see. Well if what you say is true, we must update the Shipmaster on the situation. Go to the bridge and tell him what you have seen!" Ordered the Elite, satisfied with Mid's answer.

"Yes Excellency." Mid turned around and headed off towards the ships bridge.

The golden clad Shipmaster paced the raised platform from where he commanded his vessel. This mishap was causing him a great deal of frustration. His mission had been simple: abduct a human subject, observe its behavior, and return it to the planet. Now the human had escaped from the hold and was running rampant throughout the ship.

The bridge doors hissed open and a particularly ugly looking grunt stepped onto the bridge.

"What business have you here, Unggoy" snarled the Shipmaster.

"Squadmaster sent me to show you something we found of the human! Must show Excellency!" Mid replied.

"Matr 'Lisalee, man the bridge while I am away. Take me soldier, show me what you must."

Mid led the elite off the bridge, and several minutes layer he returned. This time however, he was wearing the _Shipmaster's_ armor.

"You are relieved, 'Lisalee." Mid told the Elite manning the command platform.

"Excellency, are you feeling alright? You look odd." 'Lisalee questioned the 'Shipmaster'.

"I am fine, return to your post." He replied stepping onto the command platform. "Helmsman, have us _do a barrel roll!_" Mid ordered loudly.

After several hours of random antics including burning the words 'Mid Pwns' onto the moon's surface, the bridge doors hissed open once more. The faux-Shipmaster turned to see who had entered the bridge only to find a very naked elite.

"Imposter!" he cried pointing at Mid.

"Imposter!" Mid pointed back.

"I can settle this." The real Shipmaster claimed. "Would you like some of what you humans call, 'cake'?"

"THE CAKE IS A LIE!!" Mid cried. The whole bridge crew gasped as they realized no Elite would make that reference.

"Now seize him!" ordered the Shipmaster. Mid simply chuckled and ran off back into the bowels of the covenant vessel, Elites once more chasing after him.


	6. Just Not Rollin' in Style

Authors Note: Well after a long absence here comes Chapter 6! This chapter is written as expected by Undead Light for your enjoyment. We hope to have chapter 7 up within a few days.

Disclaimer: We don't own Resident Evil, Halo, Silent Hill, or any other game referenced in this fiction. This is simply written for enjoyment and not for profit.

Guillermo reached out as fair has he could. However, the key ring was out of reach. He quickly withdrew his hand. He felt like he was not alone. A monstrous looking dog with a giant tongue walked into the jail room through an open door. The dog noticed Guillermo and threw itself against the bars. The bars were not budging. Guillermo laughed and stuck out his tongue. The dog's tongue shot through the bars and cracked the concrete behind him.

"Shit!" Guillermo yelled. The dog's tongue lashed out again. Only inches from Guillermo's face. A distant gunshot echoed through the halls. The dog sniffed the air and ran off. "DEPANGA!" Guillermo yelled.

A deputy walked into the jail room. He looked down at his fallen collage. He looked up at Guillermo with a tough glare.

"What happened to him?" The cop asked.

"He was like that when I got here! I swear!" Guillermo said as the cop leveled his shotgun in his face.

"Bullshit!" The cop yelled.

"A monster did it! I swear!" Guillermo winced expecting to be shot. He stood there motionless with his eyes squeezed shut. He slowly relaxed and opened his eyes. The deputy seemed to be deliberating on what to do. He finally spoke.

"You see the monsters too?" He asked. "I'll open the door for you." The cop used his keys to open the lock and pushed the door open.

"Thanks, I'm Guillermo." Guillermo said.

"My name is Deputy Wheeler. We need to get out of here!" Wheeler said. Wheeler handed Guillermo his side arm a semi auto .45. "Try not to hit me with it. Some of your supplies from the Jeep we found are in the Sherriff's office. We stop there then run right out the front door."

"Alright, I'll cover you. So have you used that thing?" Guillermo asked.

"Well, before today, no… But Sherriff Shepherd said it was like playing DOOM and I should play DOOM for target practice." Wheeler said. "Do you have any experience with that gun?"

"I've been around. We've talked enough, where is that office?" Guillermo said.

Wheeler took point as they walked out of the jail room. They walked into a narrow hallway. Guillermo checked his corners as he walked through the tight space.

"Left up here." Wheeler said.

Wheeler used his key ring to unlock the door. He poked his head into the next hall. The florescent light bulb above him exploded and sparks rained down as a demonic noise echoed through the building. Wheeler quickly slammed the door. What was coming down that hall was too frightening for a description lest we have to raise the rating on this story. Wheeler jumped back and slammed the door. A few seconds later, he reopened the door and poked his head through. He looked up at the monster before he pulled his head back in. He closed and locked the door.

"We don't want to go in there." He huffed with his back against the door.

"What was in there?" Guillermo asked.

"You don't want to know." Wheeler said.

"It was your mother wasn't it?" Guillermo laughed.

"Yeah it was." Wheeler said in a stern serious tone. Guillermo could not tell if the Deputy was kidding or not.

The two ran down the narrow halls of the police department. Guillermo tried to tune out the Deputy's mimicking 32 bit music.

"The Sheriff's office is right over here." Wheeler said.

Guillermo slowly opened the door, the small office was empty. He stepped inside. And Wheeler tumbled in after him. Spread out on the desk was the team's Xbox controllers and junk food.

"Score!" Guillermo said and slid everything into his pack.

"Are you going to eat this?" Wheeler said pointing to a large rice crispy treat sitting on the desk.

"No enjoy." Guillermo forced a smile.

Wheeler shoved the treat into his mouth and was on they were on their way. Wheeler was back at the 32 bit music…

"Where do we go from here?" Guillermo asked anything to stop the music…. ANYTHING!

"Well I don't know. Where do you want to you?" Wheeler asked.

"I need to find my friends." Guillermo asked.

"Well I think the order took them to Silent Hill." Wheeler said.

"What's the fastest way too-" The door behind Guillermo blew open with an immense force. A monster let out a roar that defied any of God's creation. The yell was cut short by the blast of a shotgun. Guillermo quickly checked himself for any bullet holes. Surprisingly Wheeler had not shot him…

Wheeler stood wide eyed over his kill. "That… Was… Just… Like… DOOM! That was AWESOME!" He yelled.

"I need to get to Silent Hill, what's the fastest way?" Guillermo asked.

"The dock is right up the road. I've got the keys to a police boat." Wheeler said.

"Great let's go." Guillermo said.

The front door was in sight. Behind them a monster burst through a wall. As the dust cleared Guillermo could see every horrifying detail. The monster looked like a giant hulk of a man with a small woman fused to his back. Its skin looked leathery and slightly rotten.

"Run for it!" Guillermo yelled. Wheeler took off down the hall. Guillermo turned and thumbed the safety of the .45 off. He squeezed five shots off. The rounds penetrated about a centimeter. Guillermo turned and ran. His mind raced to come up with a plan. He saw it above the front door. A thick mesh shutter locked up with a simple pad lock and a key pad to operate it. Guillermo fired the .45 at the mesh lock. It shattered just like in the video games. He shot at the key pad and destroyed it. The mesh started to fall over the door. Guillermo slid though in the nick of time. The monster slammed into the mesh bending it. It would not hold for long.

"Wheeler we need to leave now!" Guillermo backed up into Wheeler who was frozen with fear. Guillermo turned around to see what had Wheeler so rattled. Hundreds of monsters were starting to circle around them.

These beasts were made of a soft pink looking tissue. They had elongated heads that split into halves with rows of sharp teeth and sharp claws on their elongated arms. Guillermo leveled his handgun and fired. The round tore through the cartilage and flew out the other side doing minimal damage to the beast. The beast's head split in half revealing its teeth and a small throat like hole in the back of the mouth. The monster let out a sharp screeching roar that made Wheeler and Guillermo cringe.

Another monster did the same thing. Guillermo aimed his handgun and fired. The round entered the monster's throat and blew out the back side of the monster's head in a spray of crimson and brain tissue. The monsters glared at their dead brother for a few seconds. Then back to Guillermo for a few seconds. Then back to their dead brother now lying in a pool of blood. They began to devourer their dead brother.

"Come on!" Guillermo pulled Wheeler. Wheeler looked pale.

"They're eating it…" Wheeler said looking back.

"Be thankful their not eating US!" Guillermo said.

Wheeler and Guillermo ran though the living Hell that was now Sheppard's Glen.

"The docks are right down this road." Wheeler said.

They followed the fog covered road until the road ended in a huge bottomless crevice. Almost sixty feet away they could make out the other side of the road through the fog.

"What the heck!" Wheeler said.

"Is there another way to the to the docks?" Guillermo asked.

"Yeah, we double back and cut through Curtis's Junkyard. Then we…" Wheeler began.

"Ok we'll go with that." Guillermo cut him off.

Guillermo had to give Wheeler a lot of credit, even with the fog and the walking nightmares stalking the streets of Sheppard's Glen Wheeler knew exactly where he was going. They were taking a short cut through an old junk yard.

"We must have told the local boys a million times not to jump off that water tower." Wheeler said pointing to a small water tower; it was almost a twenty foot drop on to an old stained mattress.

"Oh yeah?" Guillermo said with a passive disinterest.

A pack of dog like creatures with sharp fang like frontal teeth worked their way through the heaps of rusted cars and old appliances. They watched Wheeler and Guillermo with hungry eyes.

"We're being watched…" Guillermo said. He leveled his gun and began to scan the shadows.

"How can you tell?" Wheeler said.

"I just can…" Guillermo said.

Guillermo saw it, it looked like a mutilated dog, standing in a door-less wheel-less minivan. It watched them with its teeth barred.

"There!" Wheeler yelled and aimed his shotgun.

"No!" Guillermo tried to warn him.

A hellhound ran at Wheeler from the shadows to the left side. It tackled Wheeler to the ground about to rip out his throat. Guillermo fired a round that struck the beast in the left eye. He spun around and knelt into a kneeling position. He fired three rounds each hitting the flanking hounds in between the eyes.

Wheeler pulled himself up and ran as fast as he could, leaving his shotgun behind. Guillermo quickly stuffed the handgun into a side pouch and scooped up the shotgun. He did not have enough time to bring the shoulder rest to his shoulder. He shot a round from the hip, the buckshot severely wounding two hounds in close proximity. He cocked the shotgun as he ran after Wheeler.

Wheeler pulled himself though a hole in the junkyard fence. Guillermo caught up with him and leapt through the hole. He landed on his back and pointed the shotgun though the hole. The hound that followed him got a got a close range face full of buckshot. The hound hung lifelessly in the small a hole.

"Which way is that dock Wheeler? We're running out of ammo." Guillermo said.

"That way." Wheeler pointed, taking back the shotgun.

"You've got one round left." Guillermo said.

They ran through the ship yard. Small yachts and speed boats were docked on the lake.

"The boat is right there!" Wheeler yelled. He pointed to what looked like a small rusty fishing boat with red and blue lights on it.

"Well we won't be rolling in style." Guillermo said under his breath.

The small engine whined and they sailed out into the fog. "Maybe I should have just taken a row boat…" Guillermo said…


	7. The Limits of Bushido

A/N: Well I would like to apologize for how long it has taken to update this story. Life has been hectic for both me and my Co-author Undead Light. But here it finally is, chapter 7! I would like to apologize as the ending may seem a bit rushed and it probably is! I wanted to get this done before things started to pick back up in life so in a sense sacrifices were made. I still hope you like it though. Welcome to chapter 7, by your very own, me!

Disclaimer: We do not own Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Halo, or any other game mentioned in this fiction, it is purely for fun.

Desi felt a chill creep up her spine as she looked upon the town known as Silent Hill. The ruddy and worn-out town was blanketed in an ever falling ash and what wasn't lost to the dust was swallowed by an ominous fog. Even so, through it all one could still make out the shades and silhouettes of the buildings and street scenery.

Taking a deep breath Desi straightened herself up and wiped all emotion from her face, a master swordswoman such as herself would not allow herself to recognize fear. After taking a moment to tighten the sword sheath on her back, Desi began to make her way into the gloom filled town. She had no idea where to even begin looking for her teammates, but figured that eventually something worth inspecting would come along.

Having travelled through the derelict town for nearly half an hour, a sense of foreboding began to soak into her being once more, something just wasn't right. Where had all the other Order Soldiers gone -the ones that had taken her teammates? Why was did it seem like the town continued forever? Lastly, why could she not shake the feeling she was being watched? there were many questions to which she could only speculate.

Desi caught a sharp movement off to the left in her peripheral vision. Her head immediately snapped in that direction, ready to face any threat. To her unease, she saw nothing -not even a shadow- through the fog and ash. Could it be her paranoia? Unwilling to believe herself paranoid, yet not willing to give the threat any credibility either, she chalked it up to a trick of the light. If only there were any light to play tricks, the idea would not have been so difficult.

It was not long before another flicker of movement to Desi's opposite side caught her notice. No longer able to ignore it, the swordswoman grabbed a hold of her blade and pulled it from its sheath.

"Show yourselves. I will take any and all challengers" she said with trained calm.

From the fog the shades of several lumbering creatures began to advance towards her. Once they started to come into focus, the girl could see the horribly disfigured bodies of what looked like people whom had been burned alive. Hot coals burned where their eyes should have been, and their grotesquely distorted mouths cast forward a fiery glow as they dragged themselves towards Desi.

"What the hell?" Desi muttered, wide eyed and nearly slack jawed at these horrors.

The creature nearest to her pulled its head back and let out a soul shattering screech of white noise that made Desi cringe. Loping faster at her now, the creature made it evident it was intent on attacking.

Desi however, would have none of it as she slashed at the creature with her blade. The sharpened steel cut through the monster like butter and its tar like blood spattered all over the ground in a pattern befitting the attack. Slowly the upper half of the creature slid off and fell to the ground as its lower half topped to the ground beside it.

"Simple" Desi assured herself, but much to her horror the creature's remains began to bubble and squirm. Eventually the two halves began to expand and form new creatures, and before she knew it the halves had become two whole new entities. The other figures behind them were getting closer now, and Desi's grip on her sword grew tighter.

Trying again she let fly another slash that cut clean through both newly formed entities... the result was no different. Both halves of each creature began to bubble and squirm. Clenching her jaw a light layer of perspiration began to form on her brow as more shadows began to loom in the fog beyond.

"_I have to get out of here_" she thought to herself with a clenched jaw. She hated to have to run away, but there was no way she was going to be able to take these things. Another earsplitting screech of white noise nearly debilitated her as she turned to run.

Sprinting down the never ending streets of Silent Hill more and more creatures seemed to line the edges of her peripheral vision through the fog and ash. Desperately Desi searched for a place to take refuge; eventually her opportunity came in the form of a nearby building in which none of the creatures blocked her way. Not caring to look and see what this structure was, she quickly pressed through the door and closed it beside her.

Taking a moment to catch her breath she looked up through the strands of her brown hair that had fallen away from her ponytail. It seemed to her that she had found an old hospital, the once whitewashed walls were peeling and covered in dirt and grime. Wary now in knowing that there was more than a fair chance that other horrors stalked these halls, Desi kept her sword in hand.

Creeping through the halls step by step, Desi's mind raced nearly as fast as her heart rate. So many questions and not enough answers; why couldn't she get out of this town? Where were all of her friends? What sick parodies or clichés did the author have in mind for her? All very valid and all equally devoid of an answer.

The distinct grinding sound of metal unceremoniously shook her from her mental marathon. Curious though hesitant, Desi approached the hallway intersection to peek around the corner in search of the source. Unable to see that far into the darkness, she rounded the corner and advanced several more steps toward the noise.

From the depths of the dark hallway a massive hulking figure slowly took shape and pulled itself from the shadows. With the gore spattered body of a man and a massive iron pyramid over its head, the creature was undoubtedly a fearsome sight. The monster dragged behind it a massive great knife, the grinding noise it made growing louder with every loping step it took toward Desi.

Desi's eyes drifted from her sword, to the massive blade Pyramid Head dragged along with ease, then back to her own.

"You know if I were a man, I may have felt very insecure in my masculinity right now" she said contemplatively. She paused for but a moment longer before taking off as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

The sound of the dragging blade grew more and more distant and eventually faded, it seemed as if there was other business the creature had to take care of in this place. Before she knew it the swordswoman was back at square one; she was lost in the hospital and completely unsure of where to begin looking for her friends. With no other option she simply did the only thing she could -keep going.

Time passed, slowly and painfully the seconds ticked away as the namesake of the forsaken town wore away at her sanity. The natural creaking and dripping ambiance gave the illusion of the threat around every corner, the anxiety of turning every corner and passing every room proving to be overwhelmingly maddening.

the faint sound of voices and the crackle of a radio stood out against the ambient noise of the hospital and Desi picked up on it immediately. Cautiously she crept toward the room the sound was coming from. Two voices went back and forth as the crackle of a radio spouted what sounded like communications chatter between different Order soldiers.

The swordswoman now had a choice to make; she could pass these soldiers by and leave them none the wiser, or she could slip into the room and kill them both. If she passed them by then she would be right back to wandering aimlessly. but at least she wouldn't have attracted unwanted attention. On the other hand if she could kill them, that radio may prove useful in finding her friends.

"Hey, do you think that... you know, _he_ got them?" one of the voices said.

"No, there was a lot of talk on the radio. Somebody was killin' our guys, everyone seems to think one of those prisoners escaped. Who knows it might be that, we've lost a lot more today than we usually do" the other voice responded.

"Have we heard from any of the guys from the upper floors?" the first voice inquired.

"No, last thing I heard was some gunfire and screaming" the second voice answered, an uneasy shifting noise following directly after.

That decided it for Desi, some of her friends were being held in here somewhere and that radio could be the key to finding them. Chancing a quick peek into the room she took note of all she could in the brief second she looked. It was a small patient room with nothing between the door and her intended targets, and their weapons were slung over their shoulders... the perfect conditions.

Taking one final deep breath Desi righted her grip on her sword and dashed into the room.

The startled cries of the Order soldiers soon morphed into those of pain and anguish as with a single slash of her katana, Desi had been able to disembowel both Order troopers. Fighting an uphill battle to keep their organs from spilling onto the grimy floor, the dying words of the two men would go unheard as Desi simply picked up the radio, and left.

Not even bothering to examine the handheld device, Desi clipped it to her belt and began he research for the nearest stairwell. The men she had killed were talking about losing contact with their guys on the upper floors. If any of her friends had truly managed to escape then that is where she needed to look first.

Much to her surprise, Desi found a staircase not too long after having found the radio. Grabbing hold of the door knob she gave a firm yank, and much to her dismay the door would not yield.

_" Of course, nothing could be that convenient"_ she thought to herself in a rather sarcastic frame of mind. In no mood to deal with such trivial things as locks and doors, she took her sword and hacked the door to pieces.

"You're kidding me..." she said in disbelief as she looked through the now open doorframe. It looked as if the stairs had actually been _removed _from the stairwell. There was a significantly less dirty and worn portion of wall that perfectly outlined where the stairs used to be.

Feeling her right eye begin to twitch, she turned away from the stair-less stairwell and sheathed her sword. Taking several deep breaths she worked to regain her composure as she continued her search for a staircase.

Before she could so much as contemplate her next step in searching for a staircase, a low guttural growling echoed from the darkness before her. It took all the discipline Desi had not to swallow hard and shudder at the bone chilling growls that were no doubt meant for her. A loud thumping noise caused the floor to shake. It was soon followed by another, and then another; one after another the thumping of what could only be imagined as massive footfalls grew closer.

A pair of massive glowing yellow eyes materialized within the shadows -the giant orbs being about the size of dinner plates. Whatever the creature was, it was not particularly happy that Desi was in its path. The beast unleashed an earsplitting roar before continuing its advance towards the immobile Desi.

She knew she had to do something, she couldn't stand there much longer. Perhaps it would be best if she ran once more.

'_No... No more running'_ she thought to herself angrily. Furrowing her brow and clenching her jaw, Desi reached back and drew the sword from its sheath. '_I have been trained in the ways of the samurai, this behavior is simply despicable'_ she berated herself.

As if sensing her defiance, the creature stepped forward and gave voice to its own challenge with another throaty roar. Now able to see the creature, Desi saw a large spherical head with a wide grinning mouth. It's jaw hung open to reveal the multiple rows of razor sharp teeth as well as a rotting green tongue. Covered in leathery black skin, the rest of the creature's body seemed to resemble that of a komodo dragon -thick trunk-like legs, wide muscular body, long and wide tail.

Standing completely still, Desi held her ground -rock steady.

Not in its nature to back down, the monster charged down the hall at this most stubborn target. Opening it's jaws wide and drawing back its large head, the creature shot forward in an attempt to snap at Desi. The trained warrior dive-rolled beneath the massive creature as it attacked.

The beast's bite found nothing but air, and its head snapped back and forth in confusion -searching for its prey. Taking advantage of her position of opportunity, Desi drove her sword up into the underbelly of the monster. The reaction was near instant as the beast let out a screech of anguish and reared up on its hind legs.

Knowing now where she had gone, he beast swiped furiously at her with its front legs. One of the attacks connected and send Desi flying onto her back. Wasting no time the creature immediately followed up its attack, once more attempting to sink its teeth into some fresh meat. Stopping directly above her, the monster started snapping at the floor.

Desi managed to roll out of the way of one bite, and roll in the opposite direction to avoid the next, but the creature quickly wised up and pinned her to the floor by pressing its foot to her abdomen. Drawing back in preparation to chomp her in two, Desi tightened her grip on her sword; if she timed this wrong she would be dead.

The moment the creature struck, Desi brought her sword up and stabbed with as much force as she could muster into the beast's eye. The blade struck its intended target and the creature recoiled with a tormented howl. Pawing wildly at its face the monster withdrew, but Desi was not finished. Taking advantage of its pain, the swordswoman brought herself up to her feet in a single fluid motion, and charged.

Sword in hand, she closed the distance between herself and her target in mere moments. Raising her sword high above her head, she brought it down in a single devastating attack that caught the monster on top of its head. The sharpened steel cleaved through the meat and bone with ease and eventually exited the beast down through its jaw. Oily black blood and brain matter rained down to the floor before the gargantuan creature collapsed to the ground in silence.

Giving her blade a firm flick to sling the excess gore from the steel, Desi sheathed her weapon with a stoic expression chiseled into her features. This is what it was to be samurai –no fear, total control. This was how it should have been all along, she would not allow herself be fearful of these creatures again.

As if taking her mentally stated challenge, a chorus of low guttural growls echoed through the dark hallways. Beyond the corpse of the fallen beast, multiple pairs of similar eyes opened up to gaze upon the slayer of their brother. Each growl grew louder as each pair of eyes seemed to get closer and closer.

"Maybe... I can run just one more time" the slack jawed samurai muttered before turning and sprinting through the halls of the derelict hospital. Her escape was not as long as she expected it would be however, as within moments she found herself slipping on something slimy and wet and tumbling to the ground. After a rather rough collision with the ground, Desi pulled herself to her feet and as her vision focused she found herself in a rather odd place.

The hallway that surrounded her was... _pristine_, absolutely spotless. The whitewashed walls were still white, the equipment that lined the halls was polished and clean, the wood was still painted and solid. Something about it just wasn't right, and Desi knew it. Drawing her sword she kept it at hip level and advanced slowly into the hallway.

After moving down the hallway a few yards a sharp pain on her forehead made itself known and caused her to recoil with a hiss. Reaching up with her free hand she pressed the afflicted area and drew her hand back to discover blood. Narrowing her eyes she looked up to about forehead level to see a drop of blood hanging in what looked like thin air. Further scrutiny would show a thin wire crossing the length of the hall, and as she drew closer to the droplet of blood she saw in it a refection -A slow moving silhouette behind her.

Whipping around with matchless speed she slashed violently at whatever it was and the creature shrieked a horrible squeal. Her eyes coming to focus on what it was, for the first time since she was a child, Desi was struck with fear -plain and pure fear. It was a spider, a massive arachnid that was attempting to make her a snack.

Now Desi had never particularly liked spiders, and this was a rather _large_ spider. It hissed loudly at her before swiping with its front legs at the samurai. Unable to keep herself from backpedaling, another unpleasant pain wracked her body as the razor-fine threads of web the spider had laid cut into her back and arms. The slightest grunts and hisses of pain were the only indication she was in any physical duress at all –well trained as she was.

Risking another attack, Desi struck fiercely at the spider, only to have her blow deflected with ease. Unable to shift her momentum to parry before the spider lashed out against her again, Desi was sent flying back by another blow. The spider descended upon her quickly, it's mouth and mandibles gnashing in anticipation of fresh meat.

A gunshot split the darkness, a second, a third, and so on. The spider recoiled with every shot, the tar-like blood common of Silent Hill's beasts poring from its head. It began to stumble and bounce off the walls before it came crashing to the floor.

A rather stunned and confused Desi managed to pull herself from the floor and look to the source of the gunfire. Laying prone on the ground and wrapped in a cocoon of web, a pistol wielding figure looked as if they had managed to wrench one arm free.

"I have been waiting for that son of a bitch to come back forever" the voice said angrily.

"AJ!" Desi exclaimed in obvious suprise.

"Yeah, so could you get me outta this web, Rebecca is still out there somewhere!"


	8. (Nearly) Flawless Cowboys

A/N: As per usual I have to apologize for how long it has taken for this chapter to come along. There has been a long hiatus on communication between myself and Undead Light. It's another action chapter, light on humor. I promise the next chapter will have a little more hijinks and a little less drama! For now it seems like I will be writing this solo, until Undead Light is no longer busy. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes, as this was only lightly edited! Here we go, Chapter 8!

Disclaimer: We do not own Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Halo, or any other game mentioned in this fiction, it is purely for fun.

"So tell me what happened would you?" Desi asked breathlessly. The spider's cocoon was tough to cut, even with Desi's sword.

"Rebecca and I were working our way out of this damn hospital when we got jumped by tall, dark, and ugly here. I shoved her ahead and told her to run while I dealt with the spider. As you can see, the spider dealt with me first." AJ grunted as he struggled against his silken bindings. With a little help from Desi's blade, he was able to tear himself away from the cocoon and drag himself to his feet. "At least I managed to finish the prick before it wrapped up another bagged lunch," he meant Desi of course.

"That's assuming I wouldn't have been able to deal with the spider myself" she retorted.

"I don't take those kinds of chances."

This response prompted no further argument from Desi. AJ was a team player, he always had been. There was no denying that he was protective of the rest of the team.

"We need to find Rebecca again, let's go" he said as he dumped the empty pistol mag on the floor and slapped a fresh one into the grip. Desi wasn't sure how much more ammo he had, but if they ran into any more heavy trouble, it would be all about ammo conservation.

The pair climbed their way back out of the spider hole and onto the grime and rust covered industrial plate that passed for the hospital floor. The ambient noise of creaking metal, hissing steam, and clanking industry was much louder out in the hospital corridors.

"Something is wrong here." AJ's brow was furrowed and the corners of his mouth were curled down into a tight frown. "This corridor, it doesn't look a bit like it did when I was dragged into that hole. There had been a junction right before the spider hole, now it's just one long hallway as far as I can see," he noted, his eyes scanning the walls for any breaks or faults that signified the hall was being hidden. Of course he found plenty of breaks and faults, but none that betrayed the position of a hidden hallway.

Desi didn't say anything, but AJ was right. When she had come this way, there had been several intersecting corridors. In her time here however, she had learned that there was not much one could do about the mysterious happenings in Silent Hill. Being so out of touch with her environment irked her, it made her feel blind in more than one way.

"Well, that leaves only forward then," Desi said calmly. The swordswoman had no intention of searching the walls for a hidden corridor that would not be there. The world around them had changed and all they could do was adapt to the conditions.

Sighing in resignation, AJ pried himself away from his wall investigation and nodded an agreement. Drawing back the slide on his weapon, he chambered a round in his pistol. The darkness had many surprises in this hospital and he looked as if he were ready to face each and every one of them if it meant getting to Rebecca.

Desi thought about that for a moment. The rest of the team may have been oblivious to it but Desi was a woman. She could see that he cared for her as more than just a teammate. Oh yes, it was not lost on her that AJ had eyes for Rebecca. At first Desi was skeptical of this, pondering the possibility that it was just some lusting crush, or nothing more than a fleeting fancy. As time went on though it became readily apparent that he truly felt for Rebecca, he was always the first to be there for her. Of course, AJ would take a bullet for any of his teammates… but there was just something about his protectiveness towards Rebecca that Desi picked up on.

Desi gave her head a mental shake, she needed to maintain focus on their current task. AJ started off into the darkness and Desi followed close after.

Without a flashlight to assist them through the inky black curtains of darkness, their forward progress was slow. What ambient light there was in the hospital was soft and menacing. It left linger pools of shadow in which any number of Silent Hill horrors could be concealed, ready to tear into flesh and bone at a moment's notice.

Finally the hallway came to a corner, and after a half an hour of walking without any feeling of progression, it was a welcome sight. The sign on the wall further lifted their spirits; a staircase sign with an arrow pointing in the only direction there was to go.

Their hope soon dipped into dread however as they turned the corner. As far as the eye could see, creatures had packed themselves into the corridor. They were still as statues except for their heavy breathing and the occasional twitch. They looked to have been women at one time –nurses if their attire was any indicator. The beasts did not seem to have any sort of faces; it was just skin or sometimes rather enflamed looking wounds.

What had caught Desi's eye however was that they were all gripping varied sharp objects. Not one of them was without a surgical knife, hooks, pieces of broken glass, or sharp metal. A glance over at AJ told Desi that he had noted the obvious threat as well.

"Any ideas on how to get through?" Desi whispered.

"Not sure, but it will be tough to be too maneuverable with this" he said gesturing to his left shoulder. Desi couldn't see anything at first, but she got closer and really examined him this time. Right under the collarbone was a single puncture wound. How had she missed that before? Come to think of it, she hadn't even asked him if he was ok when she pulled him out of the cocoon.

"How..?"

"When the spider got me with its stinger" he answered the question before she could finish it. "The toxin clotted the wound to keep me from bleeding out, no use in having a dry lunch. The toxin seems to have fully worn off now and all this movement has exacerbated the wound." His explanation was calm and concise and left only one question on Desi's mind.

"Can you keep going?"

"Is there any other option?"

Desi fell silent, it had been a stupid question but the threat of him not making through the mob of monsters was growing by the second.

"I suppose I'll go first. Every man's dream is to be _surrounded_ by lovely ladies right? I suppose this will have to do" he joked as AJ often did. It seemed to make him uncomfortable when his teammates felt worried or downtrodden –especially on his account.

Before Desi could offer protest, he was already advancing into the line of ghastly nurses. Desi was not far behind, going her best to duck and dodge in any way that would keep her from hitting one of them. The monsters did not seem to react to anything but loud noises and physical contact.

The going was very slow as AJ was not as flexible as Desi was. She was able to bend and shimmy in ways he could not in order to get by the creatures. All he could manage was moderate bending and ducking. Right in the very middle of all of them, at the very belly of the beast, an unlucky twitch threw everything into turmoil.

One of the nurses twitched as AJ was passing by her and she immediately attacked. She hacked and slashed with a surgical knife. The team tactician dodged back both times but hit the wall on his final step back. The loose metal plates that the wall was comprised of clanged loudly and all the nurses were suddenly in motion.

"Desi! Run! _Now_!" he yelled. The nurse that had been slashing at him wound up and drove the blade into his already wounded shoulder. AJ yelled loudly, struggling against the pressure. Bringing up the pistol, he placed it to the creature's head and squeezed the trigger. The nurse's head jerked back as the bullet ripped through her skull –oddly enough the blood was crimson rather than black.

Desi had not run however, she was torn between listening to AJ and going in after to get him. She stood there, sword in hand as her brain pulled her in two directions.

"Now goddamit! Now! I'll be right behind you!" he yelled as he kicked the corpse back into the encroaching wave of nurses, many of which toppled like dominos.

That was enough for Desi, it was wrong to underestimate her teammate. They had all been through a lot, and AJ was militarily trained –not someone to be taken lightly. She took off towards the stairwell, dodging the nurses as she went. Gunfire echoed loudly behind her, but much to her relief it didn't seem to be getting any quieter, he was keeping up with her.

Finally reaching the door to the stairwell, she threw it open and stepped through its threshold. She prepared to let AJ in and close it quickly after he made it through. A few moments after she made it in, AJ came barreling through the mob of grotesque nurses, using one of them as a shield from the others. Apparently he had charged the beast with a knife and simply continued to bowl through them with the momentum.

AJ pulled his knife from the creature's chest and dove through the door so Desi could close it behind him. He looked rather worse for wear, all covered in cuts and scratches. The wound made by the spider's sting was still bleeding, not profusely but enough that he needed medical attention soon.

"You would think it would be fun to live like a Beatle for a few minutes… but that was more like being Yoko Ono than anything!" he laughed heartily, now lying flat on his back in the middle of the stairwell. Desi couldn't help but let the smallest smile slip while she rolled her eyes. He was always doing the best he could to make the best of bad situation.

"Well then, we should probably get moving" Desi said, trying to keep her stoic and focused demeanor.

"Yeah, I'm out of ammo now. All I have left is this shitty old combat knife I looted off of one of those Order chumps." AJ sighed, though to his credit he didn't seem any less determined to split the skull of every demon and beast between him and Rebecca.

"It's ok, I'll just have to take care of you, and fight for you, and make sure you stay safe and sound." Desi had that way of speaking, that it was hard to tell when she was serious, and when she was trying to get his goat.

"Hey wait a second now…" AJ began to protest but the woman had already set down the stairs on her own. She didn't smile outwardly, but it was still fun to mess with AJ from time to time. He was always so chivalrous and protective –not to say he thought anyone else incapable of doing things for themselves—so she couldn't resist rubbing the role reversal in a little bit.

Thankfully, the stairs went all the way to the ground floor. Creeping out of the stairwell and into what looked like the hospital lobby, the duo stayed low and brandished their blades. The thick, omnipotent murk was suddenly cut by several harsh beams of light.

"Identify!" a voice called from behind the wall of flashlights. Desi clutched her sword tightly and she could see that AJ's knuckles had gone white as well.

"Wait, they're friendlies! Looks to be a pair of those Team Light blokes!" another voice quickly piped up.

"Yeah I think you're right. Stand down!" the person who seemed to be in charge of this unit had all the others lower their weapons.

Finally able to see who had been blinding them, her vision came into focus and locked on the bright white letters that read 'S.T.A.R.S'. A S.T.A.R.S. team here? Why? How?

"The Captain found your friend. She was fighting off some of whatever the hell these things are. She's outside with the Captain right now, I'll take you there" the trooper that seemed to be in charge said.

S.T.A.R.S. teams were a recent development in this world. Of course they were not the original S.T.A.R.S. team, but ever since Rebecca broken free from her own world and come here there seemed to be a lot of inter-dimensional blending. Not just fictional people popping up as real, but the ideas from fictional worlds as well.

The light outside was not as harsh as Desi was expecting it to be after crawling around inside the derelict medical facility. It was foggy and ash continued to fall from the sky and dust everything in a ghastly and mottled gray.

The S.T.A.R.S. vehicle looked to be a refitted S.W.A.T. truck and Rebecca was sitting on the back of it as someone tended her wounds. She was talking to a man who was standing in front of her, his back to Desi and AJ.

"Sir, two more from the hospital" the man leading them out called to Desi now knew was the S.T.A.R.S. captain.

The man turned around, and it struck Desi like a bolt of lightning. That dirty blond hair,that chiseled jaw, the high cheek bones, and those defiant green eyes… it was Liam, their former team rival. Desi looked over at AJ, all her discipline devoted to keep the look of surprise off of her face.

AJ was not so keen on hiding his surprise however; his jaw hung slightly agape at the man standing before them. He was so completely taken off guard that he even stopped walking.

"Desi, AJ! It's good to see you both in one piece! We were sure when we deployed that this was going to be some grizzly business, but we never expected it to be this bad. I was worried you weren't going to make it" Liam said, a wide smile given to them in greeting.

That seemed to jog AJ from his stupor and he went to shake the man's hand before making right for Rebecca. Desi didn't hear the words exchanged, but he could have guessed: 'are you ok?', 'what happened?' the standard stuff.

"Liam, let's forget about you being a S.T.A.R.S. captain for a second, and focus on what you guys are even doing here?" Desi asked, suspicious as usual.

"We received word that you bunch had come searching for answers about Silent Hill and someone that had apparently been lost here. When you were all kidnapped in the Order attack, someone called it in. We _are_ a rescue squad remember?" he replied quickly, as if it had been the simplest thing in the world.

"Where were you guys when you found Rebecca?" AJ piped up as he and Rebecca approached Desi and Liam.

"She was fending off a bunch of those fiery bastards –the ones with the gas masks that like to explode and burst into flames when you shoot them. Anyway, I showed up with Gaines and Vasily and we carved a path to her. Her leg was busted up pretty bad, I needed to carry her back but we made it here alright. We were actually just about to go back in. It's why our team was stacked up in the lobby." Liam didn't quite know it, but Desi could see the gears turning in AJ's head. Everything he just said was completely valid, but to AJ it likely looked like he was playing the valiant hero. It didn't help that Rebecca and Liam were acting so friendly.

"Yes, he's right. One of those things managed to get a hold of my leg and yanked me to the floor. It hyperextended my hamstring, nothing that a little ice and pain medication cannot fix" she said, seeming rather relaxed in her company and finally out of the hospital.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, there was not a damn thing Desi could say or do about it. All at once Liam had presented himself as a viable threat to any relationship with Rebecca, and he had managed to succeed where AJ likely felt he failed –keeping Rebecca safe. It likely read like this to AJ: He had to make Rebecca go on without him, alone and already wounded and even without a viable weapon. She got chased down and hurt, and if not for Liam she would have died. Liam saved her like a knight in shining armor and got her all patched up. It didn't help that they had a preexisting relationship with Liam, a _friendly_ rivalry in all fairness. He was a friendly face to Rebecca, and he had saved her and was obviously kind to her. Desi knew AJ well enough to understand how his mind worked. It might have been different had he not known Liam wanted to date Rebecca during their older days on the MLG circuit.

The oddest thing had to be however, that AJ would hold no animosity towards Liam. He would just bottle it up and shelve it under the label of 'my own shortcomings' and call it a day. Desi felt bad for the guy, he took a lot of things to heart –even ones he had no ability to control or change.

"AJ needs to be looked at by the medic" Desi said quickly, trying to shift the conversational topic quickly. "His shoulder was impaled by a massive spider stinger, and during our escape we had to plow through a hallway crammed with beasts."

Rebecca looked to Desi and then looked over AJ as if she had forgotten to check him before.

"I'll take a look at him, if you don't mind" Rebecca said, but Desi could see those gears still cranking behind his eyes.

"Liam, I need gear. Boots, a chest rig, guns, ammo, everything just short of a uniform" AJ said, his tone neutral. Rebecca was already working on his injuries. "I'm going to go looking for the rest of the team, there are none of us left in this hospital."

"Well, wait. Don't you think it is best if we stick together and go looking? Besides you're hurt," Rebecca interjected before Liam had an opportunity to.

"I'll be just fine. We'll cover more ground if the groups split up anyway" he answered back quickly. Desi knew what this was about. He wanted to get away. He needed to prove to himself that he was still useful and that he wouldn't screw it up. She had a feeling that he was going to suggest that Rebecca and she stay with Liam and his group. At this point he probably figured Liam would do a better job keeping them together and unharmed.

"Alright…" Liam answered slowly. "You can take what you need from the truck. How do you propose we split up the teams?"

"I'll take some of your guys with me, Desi and Rebecca can go with you." Desi had totally called it. AJ got up when his wounds had been properly treated and he went deeper into the truck to start gathering and putting on gear.

"And _why_ is it that we can't go with you again?" Desi asked cynically, arms crossed.

AJ waited a long minute before answering.

"Can't leave all the rookies alone together can we?" he said, referring to Liams S.T.A.R.S.

The trooper whom had lead them out to Liam, leaned towards his leader.

"Did he just call us rookies, sir?" the man sounded borderline insulted.

"Compared to them Polaski, you _are_ rookies." Liam said without so much as batting an eye.

A few minutes later, AJ stepped out of the truck looking ready to go to war. He now sported a pair of dark blue fatigues, a black shirt, a combat chest rig, and various tactical pads. Having been a former soldier himself, he geared up rather quickly.

"So who do you have for me Liam?" he asked, adjusting the sling of his MP5.

Liam turned to the S.T.A.R.S. officer that had lead them outside and gave a small list of names of people to grab from inside. A few moments later, four men exited the building and headed for Liam.

"You asked for us captain?" one of them asked.

"Yes. You will be forming a second team with our friend AJ here, he's ex-military and has since then seen substantial para-military action. He's to be respected and his judgment trusted, understood?" Liam addressed his troops.

"Yes sir," a united answer from loyal troopers.

"For purposes of this mission you will refer to him as 'commander'," Liam continued.

"Yes sir," another chorus of replies. Desi figured these men must have trusted Liam greatly to not so much as bat an eye at these seemingly eccentric orders.

"AJ, these are Gaines, Vasily, Michor, and Harrow. They're good troopers, and they'll follow your orders. Don't worry, just do how you always do and I'm sure everything will start to work like a well-oiled machine," Liam reassured AJ that the S.T.A.R.S. officers wouldn't second guess him.

"Alright guys, stock up on ammo and make sure you're gear is tight and ready to move. Where we're going I'm expecting resistance. There are a lot of Order soldiers wandering around and you've already seen the beasts that stalk these streets. Five minutes and we move out," he said, talking like a man who was confident in the steps he was taking.

Desi had to admire his charisma; he may not have been the Team Light captain like Ben was, but he was certainly driven. Yes, driven, but foolish as well. He was about to go off on his own with a bunch of people he didn't even know to give Rebecca and Liam some space. What a dolt!

Desi had to resist the urge to facepalm at him. He was hardly a defeatist -she knew the difference by now. He was however, still wrong about everything. Liam was a good guy, but Rebecca didn't have the same look in her eyes when she looked at him, that she did when she looked at AJ.

"Alright guys, let's move out!" AJ exclaimed, turning to lead the small squad off into the fog. Desi hoped that everything went alright, for the sake of AJ and the rest of the team he was venturing off to find. But she couldn't worry about that now, she had her own worries. They too were about to delve back into the maw of Silent Hill's depths in search of their friends.


End file.
